The couple charged with kidnapping two Amish sisters this week planned more abductions and used "coercion" get the girls into their car, authorities said Saturday.
Stephen Howells, 39, and his 25-year-old girlfriend, Nicole Vaisey, wanted to abduct more children, St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells said at news conference.
"The motive was to victimize children," he said. "The girls have been victims of crimes. That's the only detail we'll give," he told reporters.
Howells and Vaisey were arrested late Friday after they turned themselves in for questioning. They were charged with two counts each of first-degree kidnapping and are being held without bail in St. Lawrence County.
Their arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.
Information provided by the victims led police straight to Howells and Vaisey, authorities said. The couple lived about 13 miles from the Amish family and intended to harm the children, he said.
The girls were taken Wednesday night, as they sold vegetables to the occupants of a car that had stopped at the Amish family's food stand in rural Oswegatchie, near the Canadian border. A witness said the vehicle's passenger threw something into the back seat.
An Amber Alert was issued and a frantic search began, with helicopters and state police taking part. One day later, the girls arrived on the back porch of house about 15 miles from where they had been grabbed.
Barefoot, wet, hungry and cold, they asked to be taken home. Their abductors had set them free, they said.
Jeff and Pam Stinson opened their door and led the girls inside, where they feed them watermelon and grape juice. "They ate that watermelon in 30 seconds. It was fast," Jeff Stinson told ABC News.
Jason Hunter/AP Dozens attended a prayer vigil Thursday for the two Amish sisters abducted from their farm in upstate New York. Their kidnappers released them late that night.
Jason Hunter/AP An Amish family rides their buggy near the area were two Amish sisters were abducted, and then released a day later, in upstate New York. A couple has been arrested and charged with the abductions.
Jason Hunter/AP St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells briefing reporters. The alleged kidnappers of the Amish children intended to abduct others, he said Saturday.
Previous Next
Enlarge
The couple knew the girls because they had purchased vegetables at their roadside stand.
Language and cultural barriers figured into the investigation because the family spoke Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish beliefs shun photography, so police were not able to release images of the missing girls.
The parents allowed a police sketch artist to draw the face of their eldest daughter, which was released to media outlets.
With News Wire Services
On a mobile device? Click here to see the video.
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/YhBEW6
0 comments:
Post a Comment