GARNER, N.C. — A chilling AMBER Alert blared across North Carolina cellphones in the early hours of April 29, 2025, jolting residents awake with news of a mother and her 13-month-old daughter snatched at gunpoint from their home. The Garner Police Department issued the urgent bulletin after a brazen home invasion turned into a desperate kidnapping, leaving a community on edge and law enforcement scrambling.
Around 11 p.m. on April 28, three masked intruders—two men and a woman—stormed a residence on Buck Branch Drive in Garner, a quiet suburb south of Raleigh. Armed and demanding a staggering $1 million, they confronted the father, Eliuth Alejandro Martinez. When he refused to pay, the intruders bound him with tape, grabbed his wife, 26-year-old Alondra Michelle Benitez De Jesus, and their toddler, Grecia Salome Alejandro-Benitez, and fled into the night. The vehicle? A black or dark-colored Nissan Altima, now the focus of a statewide manhunt.
Grecia, barely a year old, stands about two feet tall, weighs 26 pounds, and has brown hair and eyes. She was last seen in a pink pajama shirt paired with red and yellow striped pants. Alondra, her mother, remains missing with her, though no detailed description of her clothing was released. The suspects are described sparsely: two Hispanic men, details scarce, and a Hispanic woman, short and stocky with curly black hair. That’s all police have to go on, and they’re leaning hard on the public for leads.
The FBI and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation have joined Garner police, pooling resources to track the Altima and its occupants. Electronic highway signs along I-40 and other major roads flash details of the alert, while radio and TV stations interrupt broadcasts to spread the word. The North Carolina Center for Missing Persons, which oversees the state’s AMBER Alert system, approved the alert after confirming the case met strict criteria: a child under 17, believed to be in imminent danger, with enough descriptive information to rally public help.
By midday on April 29, the alert was canceled—a bittersweet update. Authorities confirmed Alondra and Grecia were found safe, though no details emerged about where or how they were recovered. The suspects remain at large, and police are tight-lipped about the ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is urged to call the Garner Police Department at 919-772-8810 or dial 911.
The AMBER Alert system, born in 1996 after the tragic kidnapping and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in Texas, has been a lifeline in North Carolina since 2003. Its first use in the state led to the safe recovery of an infant abducted during a car theft in Charlotte. Today, it’s a well-oiled machine, looping in broadcasters, transportation officials, and cellphone networks to blanket the state with urgent pleas for help.
For now, Garner residents are left rattled, checking their locks and scanning the streets for a black Altima. The relief of Alondra and Grecia’s safety is tempered by the fact that three armed kidnappers are still out there, their motives unclear, their next move anyone’s guess.
Grecia Salome Alejandro-Benitez is Hispanic, 13 months old, approximately 2 feet tall, 26 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, last seen wearing a pink pajama shirt and red and yellow striped pajama pants. Alondra Michelle Benitez De Jesus is 26 years old. The suspects are two Hispanic men and one Hispanic woman, described as short, stocky, with curly black hair, driving a black or dark-colored Nissan Altima.