Missing 3-year-old returned to parents this morning
Published: December 3, 2005
The missing 3-year-old girl who was the subject of an Amber Alert Friday night was returned unharmed to her Danville home early today by the baby-sitter who allegedly took her, police said.
Tammy F. Clark, 45, was taken into custody on a warrant for custodial interference and is now in the Boyle County jail, said Danville police spokesman Jay Newell.
Clark returned Sophia Grace Arnold to the Arnold home on Grabruk Drive around 3:20 a.m. today, Newell said.
“She claimed that she had been out Christmas shopping and lost track of time,” Newell said. “The young girl was perfectly fine. There were no injuries and no problems that we could tell. The parents are thrilled to have her back.”
Newell said he saw Sophia briefly “She didn’t seem to be upset. She wasn’t crying, didn’t seem to be the worse for wear at all.”
Clark told police that she had gone to Winchester to shop, Newell said. “I think at some point she said she’d also gone to Paris and to Lexington before coming back to Danville.”
Detectives are still investigating.
“They’ve taken what she’s told them and they’re trying to fill in the blanks and trying to get her to fill in the blanks for us,” Newell said. “Right now, we’ve got her and a 3-year-old as the only ones who know what happened.”
Custodial interference is Class D felony punishable by one to five years in prison. It is defined as taking action with a juvenile “that is against the parents’ wishes or desires,” Newell said.
“So if you take my kids out of town without my express permission, I can charge you with custodial interference because basically what you’ve done is interfere with my rights to raise the kids the way that I want to.”
Sophia was last seen with Clark about 8 a.m. Friday, just before the girl’s mother left for work, said father David Arnold.
He said his wife, Melissa, received a call about 3:30 p.m. Friday because their son had not been picked up from Danville Christian Academy. Clark usually picked up the boy and her own daughter. But Friday, Clark’s boyfriend picked up Clark’s daughter from school, David Arnold said.
Clark told police that she couldn’t get back in time to pick up the two children from the academy, Newell said. Clark and Sophia were reported missing to police around 4 p.m. Friday, and an Amber Alert was subsequently issued.
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