Missing child found alive after being taken by her grandmother seventeen long years ago. The widowed grandmother, who we will refer to as Gothel, will face criminal charges of kidnapping and child neglect if found guilty. The case will be held on December 12th and will not be opened to the public.
Seventeen years ago today, a young child was taken from her home while her parents were sound asleep. The mother claims a noise had awoken her from her slumber and she immediately thought that her daughter, had just woken up from her sleep as well. “I remember getting up and heading into her room thinking it was just her being restless again when I noticed something was wrong.” Upon entering the room, Mrs. Gothel noticed her child was nowhere to be seen. “I went into full panic mode. I scared my husband half to death when I woke him. I was hysterical.” When the police were notified, an investigation was commenced following her disappearance. Months passed with still no word on where the child had gone or who they thought was a leading suspect. Police Chief, Collins, remembered how grueling the case had gotten after the first two weeks. “We couldn’t find the child so we had almost given up, we didn’t have any clues or anything to lead us in the right direction. So eventually, family members became our top suspects, including the child’s parents. The case was slowing down. After the parents had become our top suspects, everything went downhill from there.”, states Police Chief Collins. Eventually, the police got a lead. “When the family became involved, we later found out that the child’s widowed grandmother had been wanting the child to move in with her, but the child’s mother had always said no. So she had become another one of our lead suspects. We had taken her into custody and questioned her.” declared Sheriff Palmer, who was deputy at the time, “But nothing was proved so she was released.” Gothel, who has since been arrested following a break in the case and the recovering of the missing girl, will plead not-guilty to her charges. “I believe what I did was necessary. I was a better mother to that child than her own mother was.”
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