WATCH: Abducted Illinois 4-Year-Old Reunited with Family After 9-Hour Search

A frantic nine-hour search for a young Illinois girl, who was allegedly abducted by teenagers when they reportedly stole the vehicle she was in, ended in a miracle when the four-year-old was found abandoned in an alley but safe.

The kidnapping and vehicle theft were reported shortly after 6:00 a.m. local time on Thursday, the Rock Island Police Department announced on Facebook, attaching the child’s photo in hopes of finding her:

The girl, identified as Blessing Aoci, was left alone in the running vehicle for mere “seconds” while her mother went back inside the residence in the 1300 block of 14th 1/2 St. — but that was enough time for thieves to make off with the vehicle, police said.

Officers located the vehicle nearby less than 20 minutes later, but neither Blessing nor her carseat were inside, ABC News reported.

Rock Island authorities said they utilized “all available resources” to find the missing child, including “assistance from surrounding agencies, door to door canvassing,” and drones from multiple local departments. 

An Amber Alert was also issued for Blessing, prompting neighbors and volunteers to join the search as well. 

Just before 3:00 p.m., two women who were out looking for the girl with her mother heard screaming and crying from an alley not far from the residence she was taken from, KWQC reported.

Miraculously, it was Blessing — apparently in good health, according to a local Fox affiliate station.

The girl was immediately reunited with her mom before being transported by first responders to a hospital for evaluation.

“We were just walking down the alley, and we found her mom, and we were consoling her mom, and we started yelling her name, and we heard screaming and crying,” one of the women recounted to the station:

“She wasn’t cold, she was warm,” she stated.

The other woman who was present when Blessing was found said the girl’s mother was “hysterical” when they reunited.

Footage of Blessing being held by family members immediately after she was found shows them crying tears of relief as they hugged her:

“I just want to say thank you [to] all the people standing behind us,” Blessing’s aunt told the outlet. “The whole community was here, since six in the morning until now. Thank God she was found, she was safe.”

Rock Island Police Chief Tim McCloud told KWQC he believes Blessing had been held somewhere for hours before being left in the alley. 

His department has since made five arrests in connection to the terrifying incident, revealing that most of the suspects are under the age of 18. 

Jaron Bailey-Harris, the one 18-year-old out of the group, is facing charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Another boy, 16, is facing kidnapping and possession of a stolen vehicle charges.

Three other teens, another 16-year-old male, a 15-year-old female, and a 14-year-old female, are also all facing charges for possession of a stolen vehicle, police said in a Facebook update:

“While this incident had the high potential to become an unbelievable tragedy, it ultimately resulted in the best possible outcome, due large in part to the incredibly cooperative efforts between the Quad City, State and Federal Law Enforcement agencies working side by side with concerned citizens and our media organizations,” Chief McCloud said in a statement. “I’m proud to have seen what we can accomplish when we all work together toward a common goal, and you all have my most sincere gratitude.”

He told reporters at a press briefing that the abduction “happened in seconds.”

“That’s what we try to tell people, that you can take one child and put them in the car and then go back to the house to get another child, and in the meantime, that car’s gone,” McCloud said. “It’s that fast.”