A man accused of kidnapping a young girl and brutally beating her mother in South Carolina was arrested after a high speed chase through Lauderdale County Wednesday night, authorities said. 

Thomas Evans, 37, was being sought for allegedly kidnapping 4-year-old Heidi Todd from her home on Johns Island, South Carolina on Tuesday.

Police in Riverside, Alabama, found Todd inside a vehicle Wednesday afternoon and managed to get her out safely before the driver sped off, authorities said.

Lauderdale County Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun said federal authorities asked area law enforcement to look for a vehicle they suspected had been stolen from South Carolina entering Mississippi on I-20. Federal officials also said the driver was a suspect in a kidnapping.

Around 8 p.m., a deputy near Russell spotted the vehicle and attempted to stop it, but Evans raced through the county. Officers from the Marion Police Department and Meridian Police Department followed, joined by Kemper County Sheriff’s Department deputies once Evans crossed the county line, Calhoun said. 

Calhoun said Evans reached speeds close to 100 mph as the chase wound through Highway 45 and Highway 39, heading north.

In DeKalb, Evans turned on a side street that had a dead end, jumped out of the car and tried to run away, Calhoun said. Deputies arrested Evans without incident. 

By 9:15 p.m. Evans was taken to the Lauderdale County Detention Facility for federal authorities, Calhoun said. He is expected to be charged with kidnapping. 

The arrest comes after a long search for Evans by authorities from South Carolina to Mississippi. 

Riverside, Alabama, Police Chief Rick Oliver found Evans sleeping in a car with Todd in the woods near a railroad track. The chief said Evans handed him the child when he said they needed to go to the police station and sped off in his car.

Officials said the girl’s mother was found badly beaten after she failed to pick up two of her other children from school.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.