Suspect Captured: Child Abduction, Slaying Near Lake Elsinore

LAKELAND VILLAGE, CA — A Lake Elsinore father wanted for allegedly slaying his girlfriend then abducting his young child has been captured in Las Vegas, it was announced Tuesday evening.

Celestine John Stoot Jr., 42, was found with his 2-year-old son, Celestine Stoot III, at approximately 5:45 p.m. Tuesday. The child was unharmed and was being reunited with family, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department announced.

Stoot was arrested without incident and was being extradited back to Riverside County where he is expected to face felony charges.

Authorities did not say how Stoot was located. He led a manhunt that began Monday evening with an Amber Alert following the child's disappearance. Authorities named Stoot as the suspect and said he was "armed and dangerous."

Then on Tuesday morning, the sheriff's department announced Stoot was linked to the killing of his girlfriend Natasha Denise Barlow, 43, of San Jacinto. She was found dead Monday in the 17000 block of Hayes Avenue in Lakeland Village, an unincorporated area of Lake Elsinore.

The sheriff's department did not confirm how she died or whether she was the child's biological mother.

The Amber Alert, which has now been canceled, was issued for Riverside, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Imperial and San Bernardino counties.