HIGH SPRINGS, Fla.—Two abducted children who had been missing from Missouri for almost a year were found in a central Florida grocery store with their non-custodial mother, who was taken into police custody, authorities said.
Kristi Gilley was arrested last Wednesday on an out-of-state fugitive warrant. Court records show Gilley, 36, remained in jail on Sunday.
High Springs police officers found Gilley and the two children in a Winn Dixie super market after running a routine vehicle tag check that indicated the vehicle’s owner was a fugitive, the High Springs Police Department said in a news release. High Springs is located about 22 miles northwest of Gainesville, Florida.
The children had been missing from Clay County, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City, since last March.
The High Springs Police Department said the children were turned over to the Florida Department of Children and Families and would be reunited with family members in Missouri.
Gilley’s court-appointed lawyer from the local public defender’s office didn’t respond to an emailed inquiry on Sunday.