'I'm ecstatic!': Father reacts to arrest of woman accused of trying to kidnap daughter

Woman accused of attempted kidnaping jailed

As a suspect is in jail for attempting to kidnap a girl, the child's father is grateful to police.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - As a suspect is in jail for attempting to kidnap a girl, the child's father is grateful to police.

"I’m ecstatic!" Kelly Grainger said, adding that he is relieved that police have arrested a suspect. "She just wanted to take my daughter."

Officers said 30-year-old Salimah McCann tried grabbing 6-year-old Esmerelda as she walked home from church on Sunday, hand-in-hand with her mother down Halifax Avenue in Daytona Beach on Mother’s Day. Police said the mother was able to fight off the stranger.

Esmerelda said, "A girl came and was punching my moms hand and my tooth fell out." Her father explained, "Told me, ‘Daddy, I don’t know if that lady was trying to take my tooth or trying to take me.’"

Grainger said he wished that drivers along Halifax Ave. would have stopped to assist. "Clearly, there was an altercation taking place, and they were crying and waving them down and stuff like that."

Grainger is still puzzled as to the motive but suspect's it may have been tied to the Mother's Day holiday.

"I believe she’s a veteran, and I’m hoping that even though she had some occurrences in the past, that she can get the help she needs as a veteran," Grainger, a Marine Corps veteran, said of McCann.

He said investigators worked hard to arrest McCann. "They went out and talked to her that day, but they had to do some investigative work before they could arrest her." Records show, she was in jail for violating a domestic violence injunction.

This dad started teaching his daughter to box at two years old. Now, he said, she’s about to learn karate. "She means everything in the world. We named her Esmeralda, that’s a ‘gem.’"

This gem is definitely the jewel of her daddy’s heart. "I told my daughter there’s nothing to be afraid of she’s safe."

McCann faces, kidnapping, battery and arson charges. She is being at the Volusia County Jail without bail. Anyone with information is asked to contact Daytona Beach Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division at 386-671-5200 or Volusia County Sheriff's Office at 386-248-1777.