What started as a routine welfare check in the Denver area turned into a multi-stop search that ended at a Charlotte Motel 6, with a missing child safely recovered and a 30-year-old woman in handcuffs, according to Lincoln County deputies.
Deputies say the woman left a Denver-area residence with three juveniles, including one child who was not her own. By the time officers arrived to check on the kids, all three were gone. The suspect was later arrested in Charlotte without incident, and the recovered child who was not her child was returned to a guardian, officials said.
How deputies tracked the group
Investigators say the case kicked off on March 13, when deputies went to the home for a welfare check and discovered the juveniles were missing. From there, the search turned into a digital and camera-driven trail.
Deputies reviewed surveillance footage and followed a cellphone ping to a Walmart in Denver. Using that clue, they pulled more camera data and other leads to track the group to a nearby QuikTrip and then onward toward Charlotte, according to Queen City News.
Arrest in Charlotte
Lincoln County deputies, working with Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, say they eventually found the suspect and the juveniles at a Motel 6 in Charlotte. Officers took the woman into custody without incident…