Clues in Abduction Erica Pratt, 7

The girl was playing with her 5-year-old sister in front of a Southwest Philadelphia rowhouse at about 9:20 p.m. when two men drove up in a white car, called her by name, then hauled her into the vehicle and sped off, witnesses told police.

Less than 20 minutes later, the girl's grandmother received the first of at least six phone calls from a man threatening to kill the child unless the family paid a $150,000 ransom, police said.

During one of the calls, shortly before midnight, the kidnappers put Erica on the phone and allowed her to speak briefly with her grandmother, police said.

Investigators said the girl sounded healthy during the call, and that they are hopeful she is still alive.

Police launched a feverish search in the hours after the abduction and canvassed the neighborhood today with the help of FBI agents.

"All I want them to do is treat her with care. Do not harm her," Serena Gillis said. "She's only 7. She's just beginning her life."

The kidnapping happened at the home of Erica's grandmother, Barbara Pratt, who had been the girl's primary caregiver for about three years, and also had custody of Erica's younger sister.

The abduction, on a well-traveled street where neighbors spend evenings chatting on front porches, stunned the girl's friends and family.

Neighbors described Barbara Pratt as a doting surrogate parent who dutifully picked up the children at school. She also often brought gifts of clothing and cookies to other children in the neighborhood, which is pockmarked with abandoned buildings and roamed at night by drug dealers, neighbors said.

"She kept those kids neat and clean," said neighbor Levette Humphrey. "She watched them all the time. She would be out there on her porch, watching them at night. She would never let them get out of her sight."

Many of the girl's neighbors stayed up all night with the family after word of the abduction spread and supporters gathered today at the Pratt home.

Betty Graham, who taught Erica in the first grade at the Mitchell Elementary School, called her "the student every teacher would love to have in their classroom."

"She was a beautiful child. She's the type of child who listens, who follows the rules, who always offers to help her teacher and her classmates," Graham said. "All we can do now is pray for them."

"This is too much. For this to happen to her is beyond awful," family friend Jocelyn Williams said. "She's already mourning the death of her son. Now this."

Police fanned out to several locations in the city today searching for people who might know the girl's whereabouts.

The department's spokesman, Inspector Bill Colarulo, declined to reveal details about the investigation, but said detectives believe that the girl is still alive.

PHILADELPHIA -- A little Philadelphia girl who police and the FBI were looking for over 20 hours has been found safe in the Nicetown area of the city.

Sources say that 7-year-old Erica Pratt was found alone on the street and reports say she was apparently taken to Children's Hospital for evaluation. Details of the recovery were not immediately available. Stay tuned to NBC 10 for complete details of this breaking story.

Police said Tuesday afternoon that they were looking for two men they believed may have information regarding the circumstances surrounding Erica's disappearance of Erica.

William Colarulo, a Philadelphia police inspector, said that officials wanted to question James Burns, approximately 29 years old, and Edward Johnson, approximately 23 years old (both pictured, left). Colarulo said the two men were only wanted for questioning.

The FBI, Philadelphia police and the attorney general's office are working together on the case. The investigation is expected to continue so anyone with information about the case is asked to call the FBI command center at (215) 418-4000, which is open 24 hours each day, seven days each week.

Police said that Erica was abducted at 9:40 p.m. Monday night from a corner in the Kingsessing neighborhood near the Mount Moriah Cemetery.

The child's grandmother, Barbara Pratt, got a phone call about 20 minutes after the abduction demanding $150,000 for the girl's return, Colarulo said.

"A specific amount of money was requested and they had the phone number to call this particular residence," said Colarulo.

The girl's mother, Sarina Freeman said that the last time she heard her daughter's voice was when the abductors put her on the phone Monday night about 11.

"She sounded scared ... I just told her I loved her," Freeman said.

Colarulo said that police don't believe the kidnapping was random. They said they are looking into the possibility that the kidnapping may be related the death of Erica's uncle in March. Sources tell NBC 10 that Joseph Pratt was gunned down in his car in a drug-related shooting. Police are checking on a possible insurance policy.

Police said Pratt was forced into a large white car by a heavy-set male with a big stomach, wearing a white T-shirt and baseball cap.

The car was driven by another male, whose description is unknown. Police said the pair fled west on Kingsessing Avenue.

Police said the car was possibly an older model white Cadillac with darkly tinted windows, and the Pennsylvania license plate may end with either 392 or 394. Police said that they have recovered a vehicle fitting the description at 21st and Morris Streets. They were not sure if it was the same vehicle that was used in the abduction.

The Citizens Crime Commission is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible. Commission representatives said that to be eligible for the reward, information must be called into the Crime Commission tipline at (215) 546-TIPS, and the caller must receive a code number from the operator.

Freeman pleaded for Erica's safe return.

"All I want them to do is treat her with care. Do not harm her," Freeman said Tuesday. "She's only 7. She's just beginning her life."

Residents of this rowhouse neighborhood said many of the adults were down the street at a block party when Erica was taken.

Police said Pratt was forced into a large white car by a heavy-set male with a big stomach, wearing a white T-shirt and baseball cap.

You know, I hesitate to notice this, but this description seems... incomplete. I note that in the article neither the suspects "wanted for questioning" nor the description up above makes any mention of the ethnicity of the individuals involved. I was thinking that, if I was to be on the lookout for any of these individuals, it would help to know if I was looking for a caucasian male (which I thought the individuals were when I first read the stories on this). Then I see the photos of the men wanted for questioning, and I wonder if this important idenifying characteristic has been omitted by the media on purpose...

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