When you think about an abduction plot, a desperate man or a pair of thugs trying to squeeze money out of a rich family is generally what comes to mind. It's that image that makes what happened in Enid, Oklahoma so frightening. Police there have arrested a 12-year-old girl and her 10-year-old sister for allegedly abducting her neighbour's 1-year-old son - and demanding $200,000 for his safe return.
Cops allege the pair broke into the house next door around 5:30am Thursday, grabbed the infant and left a chilling and strange note. "If you want to see your son again then you won't call police and report him missing and you will leave $200,000 on the sofa tonight and we will return your son back safe," it read. It was signed "The kidnappers."
The alleged young suspects were determined but not savvy and the plot didn't get far. The girls' mother saw them with the baby and started asking questions. The eldest replied that they'd found him on the corner. As the shocked mom tried to find her neighbour's phone number, the 12-year-old supposedly confessed, pinning the original idea on her younger sibling. When the stunned mother of the missing boy discovered where her child was, she ran to the house from next door, cradled her baby in her arms and called police.
They still don't quite know what to make of the entire affair. "I've been doing this 18+ years, and this is the first time I know of when a 10- and a 12-year-old kidnapped a 1-year-old," marvels police Capt. Dean Grassino. "It definitely ranks up there with the unusual crimes."
The children, whose identities are being protected, have been taken into custody and are being housed in a juvenile detention facility. They haven't been charged yet and it's unclear whether their ages will prevent them from facing serious penalties.
The child wasn't harmed.
