UPDATE, 3:05 p.m. | The Topeka Police Department provided additional information surrounding the circumstances of the Amber Alert after a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
Officers were called shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday to the 500 block of NE Wabash on a welfare check.
When police arrived, they discovered two deceased individuals — an adult male and an adult female.
However, they did not locate the 2-year-old who was reported to live in the home. As a result, the Amber Alert was issued.
Authorities believed the boy was with Christropher Barnshaw in the white Lexus. When the vehicle was spotted in Illinois, authorities pulled Barnshaw over.
Barnshaw was taken into custody, and the boy was located safe.
Police said the investigation is ongoing.
UPDATE, 12:45 p.m. | Zabe was located safe in Mattoon, Illinois, shortly before 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The KBI said the suspect, Christopher Barnshaw, is in custody by local authorities.
EARLIER | On behalf of the Topeka Police Department, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation has issued an Amber Alert for a 2-year-old child taken from his mother.
Zabe Mendez is 2'5" tall and weighs 40 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. It is unknown what clothing Zabe may be wearing.
He was last seen in the 500 block of NE Wabash in Topeka.
Around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, the Topeka Police Department told the KBI that Zabe was "forcibly taken from his mother by an unknown suspect" on Friday, July 18.
The KBI later identified the suspect as Christopher Barnshaw, 42. He has brown hair and brown eyes.
Zabe is in "imminent danger," per the KBI.
His mother's white, four-door IS 250 Lexus is also missing.
If you have any information, call 911.
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