Atlas Township deputy nabs kidnappers

By Elizabeth Lowe
Staff writer

Atlas Twp. ? Quick thinking on the part of Genesee County Sheriff’s Deputy Ron Whitney means two kidnapped children are now heading home.
On Oct. 29, the 6-year-old and 4-year-old children were in the care of their custodial father’s girlfriend in the 8100 block of South State Street in Goodrich when they were taken by their biological mother. The girlfriend, who was also responsible for her own 6-year-old and 4-year-old custodial children had left all four children unsupervised while walking across the street to the grocery store to buy lunch items. Upon finding her boyfriend’s children missing, she called 911, said Detective Sgt. Joe Parks of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Atlas Township Precinct.
Whitney responded to the 911 call placed by the girlfriend and found the two children had been taken away in a green car by the mother and a white male. Authorities were alerted throughout Michigan and Indiana, as the biological maternal grandmother resides in Indiana.
The pair was arrested at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 30 in Anderson, Ind. in a car reported stolen from the Bay City, Mich. area. The 35-year-old Flint man had been on parole for armed robbery and drug-related crimes. The 30-year-old mother from Genesee Township had two outstanding warrants related to child support and larceny charges.
The pair is currently being held without bond on kidnapping charges, awaiting extradition to Michigan. The children’s father, who lives in Goodrich, is en route to pick up the children.
The Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office will determine whether charges will be filed against the girlfriend of the custodial father, said Parks.