From Deseret News archives:
Kidnapped Utah infant is safe and dad's in jail in Rhode Island
Nicholas Gamvas, 47, was arrested during a traffic stop Saturday morning, ending a two-month collaborative investigation of the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, Rhode Island police and a U.S. marshals task force.
The 1-year-old boy, who was in the vehicle at the time of the traffic stop, is unharmed and in the custody of Rhode Island child services, said Salt Lake Sheriff's Lt. Paul Jaroscak.
The infant was abducted at Market Street Grill in Cottonwood Heights during a supervised visit Feb. 17, Jaroscak said.
"He slipped out to use the restroom with the child and never returned," he said.
At the time, the infant's mother wanted the sheriff's office to issue an Amber Alert but the abduction didn't meet necessary criteria, Jaroscak said.
"We didn't have any reason to believe the child was in danger," he said, "and we had no other information to go on."
The employee of the private company contracted to supervise the visit didn't see Gamvas leave the restaurant and didn't know what kind of vehicle the man was driving, Jaroscak said.
A few "lucky breaks" in the case and collaboration with law-enforcement agencies in other states led to Gamvas' arrest, Jaroscak said. Finding the man included some "CSI-like" investigative work that Sheriff Jim Winder is expected to explain at a Monday press conference.
Investigators learned that Gamvas also has some aliases and is linked to a similar abduction in Minnesota about 18 years ago, Jaroscak said.
More details of the investigation were not available Saturday night because Salt Lake County sheriff's investigators were still in Rhode Island.
E-mail: jpage@desnews.com
