Wheeling police release photo of kidnapping suspect

Wheeling police have released a photo and video of the man they say kidnapped a woman and her two children outside a Walgreens store Sunday afternoon.

The woman's husband left the vehicle running while he went inside the store at 10 N. Milwaukee Ave about 3:20 p.m. When he returned, the vehicle was missing and his wife did not answer her cellphone, police said.

Video surveillance showed a man entered the vehicle and drove away with the woman and children, police said. Just as an emergency alert was broadcast to area police departments and an Amber Alert was about to be dispatched, the woman called police and told them she was on the 4700 block of West Belmont Avenue in Chicago.

Wheeling and Chicago police went to the location and found the woman and her children unharmed, police said. The woman told police that the man had stolen her cellphone and cash. The kidnapper was described as a white man between 37 and 40 years old with light-colored eyes and a short beard. He was wearing a black winter hat, white and black camouflage pants, and gym shoes

Anyone with information should call Wheeling police at (847) 459-2632.