Allegedly Abducted Toddler Found Safe

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says a 3-year-old boy allegedly taken from his west Georgia home by his uncle was found safe today, and the uncle was arrested.

Robert Russell, III, was seen driving his nephew, John Jack Russell, Jr., Friday in a silver Chrysler Town & Country van with North Carolina tags, said Sergeant Marc Griffith with the Carroll County Sheriff's Office.

An updated e-mail alert sent out by the GBI around 1 p.m. Saturday said the boy and his uncle were safely in custody. The GBI says the uncle was arrested in Atlanta, though it was not immediately clear what, if anything, he was charged with.

According to the Georgia Department of Corrections Web site, the elder Russell was released from Scott State Prison in 1997 after serving two years on a robbery conviction. According to the DeKalb County's online offender database, he also has been arrested four separate times in DeKalb County from 2003 to 2007 -- once for a probation violation, twice for theft and once for failure to appear in court.

According to the Web site, Russell was last released from the DeKalb County Jail in October. Griffith said Russell's family told authorities he has a history of drug abuse.

(The Associated Press)