A married Columbus woman was arrested Thursday for felony kidnapping after she tried to visit the home of the boy she was accused of abducting on Monday.
Misty Rhoden Moore, 28, left Columbus on Monday with 14-year-old Trevor Whaley, whose family had been giving her a place to stay while she was dealing with “personal problems,” according to Lowndes County Detective Tony Cooper. On Tuesday, Whaley called home from a Wal-Mart in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and asked for a family member to pick him up.
“If you take a child without the parents” permission under the age of 16, it can be considered kidnapping even if it”s consensual,” Cooper said.
Yesterday, Moore called Whaley”s parents, Thomas Whaley and Tracie Jaynes, and said she was willing to turn herself in if she could visit Trevor first. Unbeknownst to Moore, authorities were in contact with family members and had them in a safe place away from their home. Police were waiting for Moore when she showed up.
“She was in the driveway of the victim”s house,” Cooper said. “I guess she wanted to see him one last time.”
Cooper is still investigating other information to determine if there are any other charges pending. Moore faces up to 30 years in prison; no bond has been set.
“We”re just happy we got him back,” Cooper said. “We were lucky that we were able to work in the background and get her to come back. It could have been one of these situations where she led on us on a chase. But we”re hoping to work through this and move on.”
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