Father saved girl from the arms of alleged kidnapper

A man was arrested after allegedly breaking into a Utah family home early Friday morning and abducting a five-year-old girl from her bed before her step-father saved her.

Police in Salt Lake City said Troy Morley, 46, broke into the Edson family home around 4.30am and tried to kidnap the girl as she slept in her room in the basement.

Police allege the man "rummaged through some items" before he "woke the child up and instructed her to come with him".

A neighbour said she heard the girl scream "No, no, no," and saw a shadow run by the outside of her house.

When the parents Aaron and Stephanie Edson heard the front door open, Mr Edson ran down stairs and outside to find Mr Morley holding his step-daughter.

He confronted the alleged kidnapper who immediately handed the girl back and fled the scene, the police report states.

Mrs Edson called the police and said: "(Morley) was saying that he's messed up, and someone's going to hurt him or something. But he took my daughter from my house.

"He said something about he was going to get shot so he took my daughter. I don't know."

Police set up perimeter around the neighbourhood and Mr Morley tried to hide out in another house after gaining entry through a doggy door, police said.

Resident Tina Olsen heard Mr Morley come through doo and went to investigate, believing it to be her dog.

"I went downstairs, and he was crouched up kind of by the back door with no shirt on. And he just said like, 'Am I bad? Am I in trouble?'

"I just started screaming and ran up the stairs and told my husband, 'There's a man in the house,'" she told KSL.

Police arrested the man, saying they believe the attempted kidnapping was entirely random but what he intended to do with the girl is unknown.

An investigation found that Mr Morley had entered a hotel three hours before the alleged kidnapping and told the receptionist he was in "imminent danger" but walked out without offering any more detail.

A lawyer and spokesman representing the Edson family, Miles Holman, told reporters that a "miracle occurred" in saving the girl from the "totally random" attack.

Holman said that despite being a little shaken up by the events, the girl was doing well.

"At this moment she seems pretty healthy and pretty happy. It has been a very traumatic day," he said.