VINITA TERRACE, Mo. » Two children were safe today after briefly being kidnapped by a car thief who took their mother’s car from a gas station near St. Louis.

The man who took the car apparently let the children out about a half a mile away at about 8:15 a.m. Police say they appeared to be unharmed. They are a 4-year-old girl and her 2-year-old brother.

“I’m very grateful to God, I am,” said Lucy Davis, the children’s grandmother, who was reunited with them. “I’m elated.”

The car thief, armed with a gun, was still on the loose. He was driving a white BMW with Missouri license plate DL8-G5N.

Capt. Steve Runge of the North County Police Cooperative said the suspect is wanted for armed criminal action, kidnapping and stealing a motor vehicle. He said the gas station surveillance camera captured a good image of the suspect.

Runge distributed the photo to reporters and said the image quality was so sharp that the public should be able to help police identify him quickly.

“This guy’s caught — he just doesn’t know it yet,” Runge said.

The children’s mother had left the children in the car while she went inside to buy snacks at about 8 a.m. That’s when the armed man jumped in the car and sped off, Runge said.

The children were located at about 8:15 a.m. by University City police.

Someone called police to report seeing two children wandering down the street, said Detective Lt. Fredrick Lemons II of University City police. An officer stopped and talked with the children and then drove them back to the gas station.

When police reunited the children with relatives, the little girl was seen carrying a stuffed animal.

Davis, the children’s grandmother, said they live with her about three blocks from the gas station. Davis wasn’t with them Thursday morning but heard about what happened from her daughter.

Her daughter was on her way to work. She had her children in the backseat, in their car seats. They were awake. She fueled up, then went inside the gas station to get some snacks. Davis said she doesn’t know if the car was running but assumes the keys were left in the ignition.

Davis, 52, rushed to the gas station when she heard about the kidnapping. Minutes later, the family was jubilant when officers told them the children were found safe.

“I pray to God for protection, and I never had doubt they would be safe,” she said.

The girl told Davis a little of what happened.

“She said the bad man took her and (her brother), and stole the car,” Davis said. “That’s all she said.”

Davis said the children were checked out by a paramedic to make sure they were OK. She said she assumes the gunman wanted the car, not the kids.

“He probably jumped in the car before he realized there were kids in the car,” she said.

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