IBERIA PARISH — The New Iberia girl who was rescued after an Amber Alert is saying thank you to the community. Ten-year-old Jalisa Lasalle is back home. She was abducted while riding scooters with her brothers Sunday afternoon.
She was missing for 17 hours, until a school bus driver, and two sanitation workers spotted the suspect's vehicle in a field in St. Martin Parish and called police.
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The family remains grateful, not only for the community's support while the child was missing, but the support they say still continues even after her safe return.
Jalisa received dozens of gifts from the community when she returned home. Balloons, stuffed animals and toys were all waiting for her when she arrived.
"They said they wanted to do something and asked if it was okay," her father Jermaine said. "I'm thinking it might be like 4 or 5 people coming to bring some balloons, but it was more than that. It was a lot."
He says the day was emotional for him and his family.
"Relief that it was over you know," Jermaine said. "That's rough you don't know where you child at and what's going on with them."
He added, "People care. People do care. With the way things going now, you don't see that too often. I'm glad that they showed it. I'm hoping they show it not just for my child, but for other people if things like that happen."
Jalisa also shared a messaged to the public saying, "Thank you. Thank you for giving me all of this."
