Public's Help Sought in Finding Suspected Kidnapper

Police are asking for help finding a suspected kidnapper.

According to police, Lucas Delany Huscher, 31 abducted his 13-month-old daughter from Newport Beach this weekend after getting into a violent altercation with the child’s mother. Police say he handed the toddler over to relatives in Arizona and is now a fugitive last seen in a Nevada Casino Tuesday morning.

Huscher, of Bishop, is wanted on suspicion of felony domestic violence, felony child endangerment and child abduction for the incident that began Sunday at about 12:30 a.m. on the 400 block of East Bay Avenue, according to Kathy Lowe, Newport Beach police spokeswoman.

"Earlier today Huscher turned his daughter over to a family member, who resides in Bullhead City, Arizona. She is in good condition and appears unharmed," Lowe said. "He was last seen at approximately 11 a.m. at the Riverside Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada."

Investigators were initially in contact with Huscher over the phone, but the communication recently stopped and Huscher has failed to comply with requests to turn himself in to the nearest police department.

Huscher's trouble with the law began when police responded to a domestic violence call on East Bay Avenue. At the scene, which Huscher and the mother of his child were visiting, officers found the woman suffering from serious injuries. She had been struck several times in the head and face and was transported to a local hospital, Lowe said.

After the fight, Huscher took off in his car with his daughter and got into a minor traffic collision at 15th Street and West Balboa Boulevard while trying to flee the area, according to police. Police believe Huscher then fled on foot with his little girl.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Harbor Patrol and the Huntington Beach Police Air Support assisted Newport Beach Police Officers in a three-hour search for Huscher and his daughter, but they were not found.

Huscher is described as standing 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 165 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He has a tattoo of a cross on his right shoulder and a scar on his abdomen, police said.

Investigators have learned that since the night of the incident Huscher has been documented in Santa Paula, Filmore, Bodfish, and Lake Isabella.

Anyone with information as to Huscher’s current location is encouraged to contact Newport Beach Police Detective Ryan Peters at 949-644-3779 or the Police Department’s Hotline at 1-800-550-NBPD.