'Abducted' Pregnant Teen Calls Home

March 10, 2008— -- A pregnant California teenager allegedly abducted at knifepoint Saturday morning by her baby's 20-year-old father has called home twice to say she is safe, but authorities continue to search for the teen.

"We have some reservations about this case," Bernard Gonzales, a spokesman for Chula Vista, Calif., police, told ABC News. "But you don't just shut things down."

"We have a teenager's welfare at stake," he said. "We want to get this guy in; we want to question him."

An Amber Alert has been in effect in California since Chula Vista police responded to a call Saturday morning about the kidnapping of Ashlee Crocitto, 16, outside the home where she lives with her mother, Bobbi Crocitto, Gonzales said.

Authorities said that Carlos Antonio, who had previously lived with the Crocittos in the town south of San Diego, hid behind some bushes before confronting the teen and her mother as they walked to the car Saturday morning.

Bobbi Crocitto told ABC News that her daughter alerted school employees and a detective Friday that she was having a difficult time getting out of what she described as an abusive relationship with Antonio.

Three weeks earlier, Bobbi Crocitto had thrown Antonio out of her house, she told ABC News.

According to her account of the alleged abduction, Antonio pulled a buck knife with a red handle after she pushed him. He reportedly said that he was going to be arrested. "He pushed Ashlee into the car holding a knife to her throat," Bobbi Crocitto said. "It came to a certain point where I wasn't able to stop the car."

Bobbi Crocitto had already called 911 when the pair took off in a teal blue, two-door 1999 Hyundai Accent with California license plates and a loud muffler. There may be a white dog in the car, according to the Chula Vista police.

On Saturday and again Sunday, Ashlee Crocitto called her mother's cell phone, Bobbi Crocitto said. During each call, both of which lasted just a few minutes and came from unidentified numbers, the teen girl said that she was safe.

In Saturday's call, it sounded as if the teenager was in a heavily trafficked location. On Sunday, according to Bobbi Crocitto, there was no background noise.

Each call ended when Bobbi Crocitto asked where her daughter was.

"I know he's controlling the calls because it's hanging up right when I ask her where she is," the teen's mother said.

"She's just cooperating with him so she stays alive."

The couple had been dating since November, Bobbi Crocitto said, adding that she had suspicions that the teen was being abused by her 20-year-old boyfriend, but her daughter had not said anything to her until Friday, when she confided the abuse allegations to a teacher at school, a detective and her mother.

Ashlee Crocitto is more than three months pregnant. She is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with blond hair and hazel eyes.

Carlos Antonio is a Hispanic male, 5 feet 8 inches tall with black hair and brown eyes. Authorities believe he is armed.