Toddler snatched when car was stolen 'given extra clothing by suspect'

Detectives still hunting slim Asian man in black clothing over Maria Tudorica's brief disappearance

Police at the scene in Nine Acres Close, Newham, east London, where 17-month-old Maria Tudorica was snatched while sitting in a car on 6 January, 2019. She was later found safe and well. (PA)

A toddler who was snatched with the car she was sitting in may have been given extra clothing by the suspect before she was abandoned, detectives say.

Seventeen-month-old Maria Tudorica was sitting in the passenger seat of her uncle’s Audi A5 when a man pretending to be interested in buying the vehicle sped off in it.

A police hunt was sparked when the car was later discovered ditched in Hatherway Crescent, in Newham, east London, without Maria inside.

Officers confirmed she was found “safe and well” on Sunday and revealed she was wearing an “additional item of clothing” to the white top and red trousers she disappeared in.

Scotland Yard said on Monday: “Officers believe that either the suspect put the clothing on the child before abandoning her, or that a member of the public dressed her due to the cold, but who at the time did not wish to contact police.”

Maria’s car trader uncle Gheorghe Stelica, 25, said he felt “born again” after learning she had been found.

Earlier that day, he had asked his brother, 35-year-old Claudia Stelica, who is Maria’s father, to show the car to the prospective buyer as a favour because he was out of London.

“I put the car on sale today and one guy called me on my phone,” the car trader said.

“He didn’t seem suspicious on the phone, he was talking very nicely. I said to him, ‘If you don’t want to wait for me, no problem.’”

Police at the scene in Nine Acres Close, Newham, east London, where 17-month-old Maria Tudorica was snatched while sitting in a car on 6 January, 2019. She was later found safe and well. (PA)

Claudia Stelica met the stranger outside his brother’s home in Nine Acres Close, Manor Park, and put Maria in the black car as he demonstrated the engine.

The supposed customer asked to try the vehicle, listed on Gumtree for £4,650, before getting inside and taking off.

“He jumped up in the driver’s side and – boom – straight away he went with the car,” Gheorghe Stelica said.

“I feel over 1,000-times relief,” he added.

“[My brother] is happy. He thanks so much the police for their service.”

Teacher Nazneen Saleh, a 25-year-old visiting her parents in the street, said a woman she believed was Maria’s grandmother was in a “frenzy”.

Police are still searching for the suspect, described as a slim Asian man dressed in black clothing.

Anyone with information should call the police or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Additional reporting by Press Association