Police: Motive 'hazy' in girl's kidnapping

Girl recovered when taken to clinic for sore throat

A woman is taken into custody at the Los Angeles clinic where Jessica Cortez was found Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Four-year-old Jessica Cortez is "well" after a 48-hour kidnapping that ended when the woman now accused of abducting the little girl brought her to a clinic for treatment of a sore throat.

Investigators discounted reports from witnesses who said they saw Jessica leaving Echo Park in Los Angeles with a man.

They said they now believe she spent "the entire time" with Patricia Cornejo, a 39-year-old mother of four, said Los Angeles interim Police Chief Martin Pomeroy.

"The motive remains a bit hazy at the moment," Pomeroy told reporters before dawn Wednesday. "We'll talk more to little Jessica and to this woman."

A medical examination showed Jessica suffered no injuries and was "not assaulted in any way" while she was missing, Pomeroy said.

"Little Jessica is well ... and back in the loving arms of her parents," the chief said.

The suspect was in police custody and was expected to be arraigned on kidnapping charges Thursday or no later than Friday, officials said.

Jessica was snatched from Echo Park during a Sunday afternoon outing with her family. With no sure evidence of what happened to the little girl, police sent divers into the murky waters of the park's lake while detectives canvassed the neighborhood looking for her.

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Police later distributed a composite sketch of a man witnesses said they saw with Jessica. But Pomeroy said the man was no longer a suspect.

"We would still like to talk with him," Pomeroy said. "We believe he exists. ... Enough people saw him in the park, but he is not a suspect in this matter."

The intense search turned up no clues to Jessica's whereabouts until the staff at St. John's Well Child Center telephoned police to say they believed the missing girl had been brought to their clinic by a woman.

Pomeroy said the staff, who kept Cornejo and girl in the clinic until police arrived, were "heroes in every sense of the word."

Cornejo brought the girl -- with her hair cut short and wearing different clothes than when she was taken -- to the clinic after she complained of a sore throat.

Investigators said Cornejo would be charged "based on her conversation [with detectives] and certain physical evidence that we have collected," Pomeroy said.

He provided no other information, saying further details would wait until detectives presented their case to the district attorney.

Two of Cornejo's children -- ages 10 and 4 -- have been placed with protective services, police said. The other two are older and were not living with their mother.

Pomeroy said Cornejo apparently had relatives living near Echo Park, but lived closer to the clinic, about four miles from the park.

"She may have a minor police record," Pomeroy said, "but we have been unable to confirm any major crimes."

California had initiated an "Amber Alert," an emergency system to quickly distribute information on radio, television, the Internet and electronic traffic signs when a child under 18 is missing.

Traffic signs were not activated in this case because there was no description of a vehicle.

The Amber Alert was created in response to the murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas, in 1996.