No Kidnapping Charge Against Woman Who Allegedly Abducted Son

Franklin County authorities will not be seeking kidnapping, burglary and child endangerment charges against a woman who allegedly abducted her 4-year-old child earlier this week.

The sheriff’s office reported Tuesday that they had arrested the woman after investigating reports that she had taken her son from the child’s grandmother’s house in the Lonedell area. The alleged abduction was reported about 11:17 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19.

The grandmother said she had put the child to bed in the living room and went to a bedroom to sleep. She woke up later and noticed her grandson was no longer there and the front door standing open. She said she ran outside and saw two people running away and one was carrying the child wrapped in a blanket. The grandmother told investigators she had sole custody of the child.

After an extensive investigation that included officers with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, deputies located the child’s mother and later recovered the child, safe and unharmed, at a home in Jefferson County.

Sheriff Gary Toelke said later that after further investigation, the only charges that would be sought against the 21-year-old mother would be for first-degree trespassing.

The investigation, Toelke said, revealed that the grandmother did not actually have court-ordered custody of the 4-year-old boy.

The mother allegedly left the child with the grandmother in September 2011, Toelke said.

The 21-year-old suspect, who reportedly had been living in the Robertsville and House Springs areas, told deputies that she had been planning for about four months to abduct the boy.