Woman Arrested In Fairfax Abduction

Falah O. Joe, 28, of the Falls Church area was arrested in the District. She is facing kidnapping charges in the abduction of Kamron Wells. (Illustration By William J. Hennessy Jr.)

The Amber Alert was sent to the media at 9:53 p.m., and a broadcast at 10 p.m. was seen by Metrobus driver Jennifer Edwards, Rohrer said. Edwards remembered picking up a child who matched Kamron's description -- along with a woman seen in the surveillance videos -- just east of the shopping center, at 11:45 a.m.

About noon, Edwards dropped off the woman and child at Southern Towers, a high-rise complex in Alexandria near Interstate 395. Metro personnel were able to track down routes and buses based on the time and location, and locate the videotape, which was turned over to the FBI, spokeswoman Candace Smith said.

But ultimately, it was Mooya, a Safeway cashier, who helped find Kamron.

Mooya helped Kamron get settled and removed a jacket so the child would be more comfortable, he said. Mooya saw the child's camouflage-print shirt, which reminded him about the description he had heard on TV.

But Mooya did not dwell on it. The woman appeared relaxed and "she seemed to be enjoying Mike's company," Mooya said. He described the woman as African American and said she was wearing jeans and boots.

After about an hour, Mooya said, the child told him: "That's not my real mommy. That's not my real mommy. My mommy is going to beat her up when she finds out."

Mooya said he went upstairs and told Mike that he believed the child was the one described on TV. At that point, Mooya said, the woman left his house. Mike ran after her, Mooya said, and alerted police. Mooya, meanwhile, called 911.

"I don't see myself as a hero but as a concerned person," said Mooya, who has a 4-year-old son. "I did something that anyone with a conscience would have done."

Because she was arrested in the District, Joe initially appeared in D.C. Superior Court. An appearance is scheduled today in federal court in the District.

Kamron was taken to the Fairfax police command post outside the Shoppers grocery, where he was reunited with his parents.

"Seeing his smile as he arrived back at the command post," Rohrer said, "that just touched my heart."

Staff writers Lena H. Sun and Jonathan Mummolo contributed to this report.