DAYTONA BEACH — It took two minutes for Monique Gloss to park her car, walk inside the restaurant, pay for her Chinese food and walk back outside.
During that time frame, her Chevy Impala — which contained her 3-year-old twins, a boy and a girl — was stolen.
The children were separated from their mother by a suspect who wanted to steal a car Wednesday night. He didn't seem to notice or care that two toddlers were inside when he decided to speed away, according to the Daytona Beach Police Department.
"They were innocent kids. They didn't hurt nobody," Gloss told The News-Journal on Thursday. "They're just so innocent. How could somebody do that to innocent babies?"
The car and the toddlers were found a short time later about a mile south of where they were taken. The children were unharmed. Police have not identified the suspect or made an arrest, but detectives are still investigating, police spokeswoman Lyda Longa said.
Gloss was panicked when she called 9-1-1 outside the China One at 601 Bellevue Ave. The call came in around 6:28 p.m.
"Somebody ran off with my kids in the car!" she could be heard screaming to responding police officers.
It took 10 minutes for her car and children to be found, but it was an excruciating wait for Gloss.
"It felt much longer," said Gloss, a 36-year-old single mother of four. "It felt like hours."
A witness saw the stolen car about a mile away, backing into a parking spot behind an apartment building at 1350 Virginia Ave. near U.S. 1, according to a police report.
The same witness saw a man wearing white jeans and a white hooded sweatshirt get out of the stolen vehicle and run to another vehicle occupied by two other males, police said.
Gloss was still shaken Thursday morning about her ordeal. She promises to vigorously pursue charges against the suspect if he is ever caught, she said.
"I couldn't believe it," she said. "How could (he) not see the kids in the car? I mean, like, why did he do that?"