The mother a 5-year-old Falls Township girl will be charged after fleeing to Tennessee with the child, police confirmed to LevittownNow.com.
The 55-year-old woman, of Falls Township’s Morrisville section, is expected to be extradited from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Bucks County to face charges of interference with the custody of a child and concealment of the whereabouts of a child, according to an arrest warrant completed Wednesday afternoon.
Advertisements
Police said the woman was set to return her 5-year-old daughter to the girl’s father last Wednesday night following a scheduled dinner visit, which is part of a custody agreement approved by a county judge last fall.
The girl was not returned home last Wednesday night and the girl’s father called Falls Township police for welfare check of the woman’s home on West Bridge Street, which did not turn up the girl, police said.
The next morning, the woman sent an electronic message to the girl’s father saying she had a family emergency and he would be hearing from her, according to court papers.
Advertisements
A detective visited the woman’s neighborhood Tuesday and several nearby residents said they had not seen the woman recently.
After releasing information to LevittownNow.com and other news organizations Wednesday, a tip came in to police and they tracked the woman to Tennessee, they said.
Advertisements
According to court papers, the custody agreement that granted the girl’s father primary custody stated that the child was not to be taken out of state for more than 24 hours without 30 days advance notice.
Knoxville police had the woman in their custody Wednesday evening.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
Advertisements
