Arkansas Mom Kidnaps 8 Kids from Foster Homes, Drives to California

An Arkansas woman wanted for abducting her eight children from their foster homes was arrested on Saturday in California.

All eight children were ultimately located and handed over to Shasta County Children and Familiy Services to be reunited with their guardians in Arkansas, the Anderson Police Department said.

Police said they were contacted just after midnight on Saturday by “a concerned citizen” who spotted a group of six children in a pickup truck driven by a “woman displaying bizarre behavior.”

Officers arrived and found the trash-strewn, Arkansas plated truck and identified the driver as 36-year-old Trista Fullerton. who had a warrant from Arkansas charged her with abducting eight children. The officers learned that the other two children were in the Cottonwood area and got assistance from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office to retrieve them.

Police said that warrants indicated Fullerton was the biological mother of all eight children but had lost custodial rights. It’s not clear when the children were abducted or Fullerton lost custodial rights. Police also did not provide a range of ages for the children.

She was booked into the Shasta County Jail and will be extradited to Arkansas.

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[Featured image: Trista Fullerton/Anderson Police Department]