A 34-year-old Florida mother accused of kidnapping her daughter has been recaptured in Broward County.
Arys Martinez and her husband, Jacob Howard, lost their parental rights for baby Amelia, then 8-months-old, in February, and a week later, Howard took the child from a daycare facility and handed her over to her mother, according to WPLG.
A day after the kidnapping, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued an Amber Alert and then rescued the baby from Martinez’s home in Pembroke Pines. Martinez, charged with kidnapping and interfering with custody, and Howard, charged with interfering with custody, were both arrested.
Martinez was also charged on multiple drug counts and child neglect without bodily harm. She posted a $75,000 bond on March 22 and promptly vanished. A judge issued an arrest warrant on April 3, charging her with tampering with a GPS monitor.
On Saturday, Broward County deputies brought her back in on five counts of violating a probation warrant related to her absconding. She was also charged with two new drug charges.
Baby Amelia, who had been in the custody of Martinez’s mother at the time her parents kidnapped her, was returned to her previous foster family in February, WSVN reported. Broward County Circuit Judge Hope Tieman Bristol also stripped Howard’s already minimal rights to visitation from him.
“It’s clear that the father is in violation of a court order. His visits are no contact. He’s legally not the father any longer since this court entered a final judgment terminating his parental rights,” said the judge. “As for the emergency motion to modify placement, based upon what’s contained in this motion as well, this court has some serious concerns about the grandmother’s ability to exercise protective capacity and protect this child, so I’m going to grant the department’s motion for modification of placement.”
At the time of her arrest in February, Martinez told detectives she had planned to hop on a plane and take baby Amelia to Spain.
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[Featured image: Arys Martinez/Broward County Sheriff’s Office]
