Missing Calif. girl found safe in Nevada

Suspect arrested

Nichole Timmons and Glenn Park, her former baby sitter

RENO, Nevada (CNN) -- A 10-year-old girl who was the subject of a massive manhunt Tuesday after she disappeared from her Riverside, California, home was found alive and unharmed later in the day, the Nevada Highway Patrol said.

Nichole Taylor Timmons was last seen by her mother Monday night in her bedroom, police said. In the morning, the girl was gone, her door and the yard's rear gate both unlocked.

Nevada authorities said they arrested Glenn Park, the girl's 68-year-old former baby sitter, about 2:40 p.m. after his vehicle was stopped on U.S. Highway 95 near Schurz in the Walker River Indian Reservation, about 65 miles southeast of Reno and about 350 miles from Riverside.

Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach said Park had been a family friend of the Timmons but that the relationship had been terminated.

"We believe one of the reasons could be him becoming distraught with the ending of that relationship with the Timmons family," Leach told reporters.

"We're trying to find out more about that now ... to see perhaps why he chose today and why he chose take her, and what triggered that response to the termination of this relationship," he said.

Nichole's mother, Cheryl Timmons, thanked police and the news media for helping recover her daughter so quickly.

"To wake up in the morning and take the blankets off your child's bed and see empty sheets, puts you in another world like you're in a cloud," she said at a news conference.

Leach said they hoped to reunite Nichole and her mother Tuesday night. He said they were arranging to fly Timmons to Nevada.

The girl's parents are separated. Police said her father, Ralph Timmons, was scheduled to travel abroad Tuesday and they were trying to contact him. Smith said the father was not considered a suspect.

Riverside Assistant Police Chief Mike Smith said earlier that Nichole's mother had expressed "some concerns" about Park to investigators, and authorities began receiving tips after an "Amber Alert" was issued via electronic billboards and signs throughout the state.