Californian police and FBI search for three-month-old baby abducted by stranger

Californian authorities and the FBI are searching for a three-month-old baby who was taken from his home in the San Francisco Bay Area by a stranger.

The man entered an apartment in San Jose at around 1pm local time on Monday and walked away with little Brandon Cuellar in a baby carrier, police said.

“We are actively working leads,” the San Jose Police Department tweeted early on Tuesday.

“We know there is a need for information, but we also need to maintain the integrity of this investigation. The number one unwavering goal is to get baby Brandon home.”

Police released a video showing the man walking down the pavement holding the baby carrier covered by a white blanket.

“The family does not recognise this suspect,” police tweeted.

Sergeant Christian Camarillo told reporters on Monday that the kidnapping was reported by the baby’s grandmother.

“According to the grandmother, she came home to this apartment…. She took the baby in the apartment, went downstairs to unload some groceries,” Sgt Camarillo said.

“In that short amount of time someone entered the apartment … and left with the baby.”

Brandon was last seen wearing a white long-sleeved onesie with dinosaurs on.

Sgt Camarillo said the baby’s mother was at work when the abduction happened.

“Dad right now is out of the picture. He is incarcerated. I don’t know, you know, whether that is going to play into this, but obviously we are going to talk to him soon,” Sgt Camarillo said.

He said it is hard to make out the man who took the baby because he was wearing a mask.

“We need the public’s help right now in San Jose to find this baby. Today someone is walking around with a three-month-old baby that they did not have yesterday,” he said.

The FBI dispatched its child abduction response team to help San Jose police, he said.