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October 30, 2004
Police think missing girl hidden in Gladewater
By JOHN LYNCH -- news-journal.com
Authorities believe some people in Gladewater are hiding a 6-year-old Oklahoma girl after Gregg County deputies arrested her mother, who is accused of abducting the child nearly two years ago.
Sheriff's Capt. Ken Hartley said 26-year-old Misty Lynn Vanzandt might have been hiding out in Gladewater for several months. She has been sought by Oklahoma authorities for about 18 months, accused of violating the terms of her daughter's custody. Vanzandt, who told jailers she lives in Gilmer, is being held without bond in the Gregg County Jail on a fugitive warrant.
Hartley said a tip led sheriff's investigators to Vanzandt on Wednesday in Gladewater, but she didn't have her daughter Sabrae with her.
"She refused to tell us where the child is," Hartley said. "We think the child is still down here."
Acquaintances of the woman also would not disclose the child's whereabouts, Hartley said.
He said Sabrae might even be enrolled in school in the area under an assumed name.
Hartley said Oklahoma authorities believe Vanzandt was making up claims that her daughter was being sexually abused, subjecting the child to invasive examinations each time.
The Sequoyah County Times of Sallisaw, Okla., reported earlier this month that Vanzandt has been wanted on child abuse charges since May 2003, accused of "subjecting her child to unwarranted sexual abuse examinations on multiple occasions from birth to age four."
Vanzandt and the girl's father divorced two years ago, and she was awarded custody of the child.
The newspaper cited court records that say Vanzandt took her daughter to the doctor more than 60 times by the time she was four. Sexual exams were performed nine times based on Vanzandt's claims, but no physical evidence was ever found, and the girl had not indicated any inappropriate behavior by her father or grandfather.
An attorney for the girl's father told the Times that after every weekend visit Sabrae had with his client, Vanzandt claimed the girl had been sexually abused by a different family member, and once promised the man she would do everything she could so he could not see his daughter again. The man has not seen his daughter in two years.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation reported the girl was last seen May 13, 2003.
Posted by Nealus at October 30, 2004 01:19 PM
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