A man who picked up his 2-year-old from a Hall County day care in late September and fled to Puerto Rico was arrested Monday and the child was returned to his mother, officials said.
A warrant charging London Stephens with felony kidnapping was issued Oct. 28, a month after he picked up his son from the facility in Oakwood, said U.S. Marshals Service spokesman for the District of Puerto Rico Antonio Torres. Stephens and the child’s mother had agreed he would return their son Oct. 3, Torres said, but after unsuccessful negotiations the mother reported the incident to police. Stephens was the child’s non-custodial father, Torres added.
An investigation was initiated by the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force in Atlanta and Torres said it was determined that Stephens had fled to Puerto Rico. Officials on the island were alerted and tasked with arresting Stephens and recovering the child.
Officials found out Stephens had been in and out of homeless shelters and Airbnbs around the northern part of the U.S. territory with his girlfriend Jordin Nuble-Myer, who is also a resident of Georgia, and the boy.
Stephens was arrested at about 8 p.m. Monday in Loíza in connection with a home invasion, Torres said. After the arrest, Torres said local police learned Nuble-Myer was at a hotel in Condado, San Juan, with the child. The woman handed over the boy and was taken into custody, Torres said. Her charges were not released.
The child’s mother arrived in Puerto Rico on Wednesday after he was turned over to a social worker.
“We are fully committed to assisting federal, state and local agencies with locating and recovering endangered missing children,” said U.S. Marshals spokesperson for the District of Puerto Rico Wilmer Ocasio-Ibarra. “Our message to missing children and their families is that we will never stop looking for you.”
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