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Kidnapping: NJ Girl, 11, Returned Home Safely From Delaware, Accused Abductor, 27, Seized

An 11-year-old New Jersey girl was returned home safely after she was kidnapped in Wayne and taken to Delaware, authorities said.

Darius Matylewich

Darius Matylewich

Photo Credit: Boyd A. Loving (file photo) / INSET: Passaic County Prosecutor

Darius Matylewich, 27, of Bear, DE. was captured on Sept. 10 after he took the girl earlier in the day from an undisclosed location near the confluence of Routes 46, 80 and 23 without her parents’ knowledge, they said.

Certain specific details are being withheld to protect the identity of the child, whom authorities said Matylewich met while playing an online video game.

Some information was provided in a joint release from Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, Wayne Police Chief Jack McNiff, and Police Chief Joseph S. Bloch in New Castle County, DE.

Wayne police responded to a call in the area of Old Turnpike Road and the “spaghetti bowl” network of highways at 6:45 a.m. that morning, it says.

They quickly located the child and Matylewich 135 miles away, at a housing development just across the Delaware River from New Jersey in Bear. The girl wasn't harmed, responders said.

Members of the New Castle County Police Department arrested the 5-foot-8-inch, 209-pound Matylewich and took protective custody of the girl that same day.

Matylewich was extradited on Tuesday, Oct. 11, records show.

He remains held in the Bergen County Jail pending a detention hearing scheduled for this coming Monday, Oct. 16.

Matylewich is charged with first-degree kidnapping and child endangerment.

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