Frantic Search For Child After Court Custody Mix-Up
An apparent court custody mix-up led to a frantic search for a child on Monday afternoon.
Right around 2:30 pm, a county elementary school contacted deputies to report an irate father was causing a scene at the school.
Earlier in the day, his child’s mother showed up at the school with paperwork awarding her emergency custody. She left the school with the child.
A school counselor contacted the father to let him know what had happened so he wouldn’t wonder why his daughter hadn’t arrived home from school. The father became angry and insisted his child had been kidnapped. He then showed up at the school.
Officers determined the man was not a threat and took him to a nearby parking lot to discuss the situation. That’s when deputies learned about the mix-up with the order. There was a protection order barring the mother from contact with both the child and its father. The court vacated the order and instead issued one for both parents to appear before a judge the next day.
Deputies headed out to the mother’s reported location to serve her with the new order. However, they were cautious as they were advised she might be armed.
However, the mother was not there and officers headed to her apartment and waited for her to return. When she arrived around 6:30 pm, deputies served her with the paperwork and returned the child to its father’s custody just before 7 pm.