INDIANAPOLIS — Three women were arrested by Indiana State Police for kidnapping a seven-year-old from Indianapolis.
ISP says the child was found safe in Texas and is currently in the custody of child protective services while waiting to be reunited with the father.
Detectives with ISP were contacted about an alleged child abduction on Monday, June 24 at around 7 p.m.
ISP followed leads provided by the child’s father and determined the seven-year-old was with her biological mother, who does not have legal custody, in Fort Worth, Texas.
Detectives worked directly with Fort Worth police officers who located the child and arrested the 43-year-old mother.
WRTV does not name suspects until they are formally charged.
ISP learned the child’s two adult half-sisters conspired with the mother to carry out the abduction.
The 25-year-old and 26-year-old half-sisters told their father they were taking the child to an amusement park in southern Indiana.
ISP says the half-sisters picked up the child from their father’s house on June 19 and were supposed to visit the amusement park the next day. Instead, they drove to Missouri, where the child boarded a plane to Texas with the mother.
When the child’s father contacted the half-sisters, they allegedly told him the child’s mother came to the amusement park and took the kid from them. They told the father that the mother most likely saw their posts at the park on social media, indicating where they were.
ISP says detectives later learned the social media post was part of their plan, as they created the post about being at the park in collaboration with the mother.
The mother and two half-sisters all face kidnapping charges. The half-sisters were arrested by ISP and the mother was arrested in Texas.
