Two children were rescued by police after their babysitter allegedly drove them out of state and abandoned them at a park when she realised a missing child alert was issued.
According to the Bay County Sheriff’s Department in Florida, 18-year-old Adalyn Jean Burkett was looking after the two minors, aged one and two, overnight from 23 June to 24 June. The children’s mother later told police that she knew Ms Burkett and she believed her to be a close friend.
They had agreed that Ms Burkett could borrow the mother’s car for the night with the condition that she would have to return it when the woman returned home to her kids. But on the morning of 24 January, the mother learned during a phone call that Ms Burkett had left the state with the two children.
The mother alerted local authorities, who on 25 June issued a missing child alert — a media-focused alert designed to engage the public in the search for a missing child.
Throughout the investigation, law enforcement also learned that Ms Burkett had travelled with her 22-year-old boyfriend Marquan Edwards from Panama City, Florida, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the night that she was supposed to look after the kids.
After it was determined that Ms Burkett and Mr Edwards were in Milwaukee, a warrant for their arrests on charges of interference with child custody was issued. Ms Burkett is also charged with grand theft of an automobile.
Adalyn Burkett, 18, and 22-year-old boyfriend Marquan Edwards were arrested after they drove out of state with two children she was babysitting— (BCSO)
When Ms Burkett and Mr Edwards learned about the missing child alert disseminated through numerous media outlets, they allegedly took both children and dropped them off in a public park near North 28th Street and West Clarke Street.
Milwaukee police found the minors that evening and took them to a station. Family members later picked up the children.
“We’ve been on the road since 4am yesterday. We drove 17 hours to get here,” the children’s grandmother Tina Leach told WISN. “We would have walked if we had to.”
“Investigators believe Burkett and Edwards wanted to distance themselves from the investigation and possible arrest,” the Bay County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
Ms Burkett and Mr Edwards were arrested on 26 June by the US Marshals. They are currently being held in custody in Milwaukee.
