Great-grandmother begs for release of 11-year-old

The great-grandmother of an Orem child abducted Thursday is pleading with the man who is believed to have taken her to show compassion.

Alta Ingram, the great-grandmother of Chilsea Lund, the 11-year-old girl allegedly kidnapped June 25 by her cousin, Frederick Laird, begged Laird to return her."You know this is wrong, wrong, wrong!" Ingram said in front of television cameras at a press conference Saturday. "If you have any compassion, oh, please release our little Chilsea. Don't let her cry and beg and suffer.

"Please, contact the police or drop her off where she can be safe, I ask and beg you. You know how sad we are, sad for you, and sad for Chilsea. I say this from the bottom of our hearts."

Ingram said she and Chilsea's mother, Dea Lund, are the only family members who've shown Laird a measure of friendship and kindness since his release from a Colorado prison in April.

The 37-year-old Laird was serving time for aggravated auto theft originating in California. He had not seen the Lunds or Ingram for 13 years but was corresponding with them.

"My mom and my grandmother were really the only ones that have been kind to him," said Lund.

"We felt he would change his life," Ingram said with tears in her eyes.

Ingram was allowing her grandson to stay with her in her Murray home until he could get on his feet, she said.

But she emphasized that Laird was not raised around her and had a quick temper that was easily triggered without warning.

Lund had allowed Laird to visit her home four different times since Laird's release from prison but had never allowed him to be alone with her children. She said Laird did not show a particular interest in Chilsea or in her brother or sister.

"I never trusted him," she said.

Police say Laird called Chilsea at a friend's with a story about taking her to get a surprise for Lund and apparently kidnapped her from that home.

Orem police spokesman Lt. Karl Hirst said there is no reason for Laird to feel hostility against Lund.

He said Laird is considered very dangerous, violent and good at the con game.

Hirst described Laird as tanned with a shaved head with a number of tattoos on his lower arms, including a tattoo of a dove on his left shoulder.

Chilsea is of medium build, between 85-95 lbs. with hazel eyes and shoulder-length brown hair. She has a round mole on her left cheek.

Laird is driving a blue or grey 2-door Nissan Sentra.

The hotline number to contact the FBI or the Orem Police is 1-801-229-7321.