It happened on West Irving Park Road in suburban Bensenville. After a six-hour AMBER Alert the little girl was found just about a mile away.
Kimberly Delgado was still strapped in her car seat. Her mother's black Buick Rendezvous was sitting in the driveway of a home. A curious neighbor spotted her and called police.
"I'm happy for the family, the mother," said Bensenville Police Chief Frank Kosmen. "The child was found, unhurt."
That was just before 7 a.m. Thursday morning. It had been a long night for the mother. Just after 12:30 a.m. she had left her car running in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Irving Park Road. She walked to the building lobby, talking to a friend.
"She made a mistake by walking 30 feet away from the vehicle while it was running and somebody took the opportunity to steal the car," said Kosmen.
A neighbor saw the hysterical mother.
"She was sick with worry for her baby," said Yahira Olmos. "She said someone took her car."
Authorities are now looking for a Hispanic male, about 5'4", between 30 and 40 years old. He is described as having a heavy build and was wearing a red sweater.