A county library board member in Arkansas has been arrested for allegedly arranging for her 22-year-old developmentally-delayed daughter to be kidnapped as a “lesson on safety.”
Arrest affidavits say Tammi Hamby and three co-defendants were charged on Wednesday with conspiracy to commit kidnapping and endangering the welfare of an incompetent person, according to KHBS.
Hamby’s husband, who is not facing any charges currently, told the station he was unaware of the kidnapping plans until after the fact but complained that his wife had been arrested.
“We’re trying to teach her that there are people who will hurt her, and instead of helping us, they arrest my wife,” Jeffrey Hamby said w. “I’ll spend every dime I’ve got to help my wife and those people who are trying to help my daughter.”
Despite claiming to know nothing about the kidnapping plans, he knew plenty about what led up to the kidnapping, and spelled it out for KHBS, saying the plot was a warning for their daughter.
“For the past six months, my special needs daughter has been affected by an online predator who has developed a trauma bond with her and now has her complete control,” he said. “She believes it’s (country singer) Luke Bryan, and we cannot talk her out of it.”
“These two young men who Jamie didn’t know were pretending to be with Luke Bryan, and they came to pick Jamie up because they had arranged that,” he said. “The first words out of my daughter’s mouth, I’ve got video of this, was, ‘I thought it was tomorrow you were supposed to be here.’ And they said, ‘Sorry, but Luke sent us today. It’s now or never.’ She gets in the car with them, with her guitar and her teddy bear, and goes with them willingly.”
Jeffrey Hamby did not say what, if any, other measures his wife considered before deciding on a kidnapping.
According to the arrest affidavits, Tammi Hamby orchestrated the kidnapping with nursing assistant Shannon Childers and friends David Quach and Nico Austria.
Investigators found the young woman in fear of her life on November 17 with with her hands zip-tied together tied to a tree in a field. She was clinging to her teddy bear as she described what happened.
Crawford County Sheriff Daniel Perry recused himself from the investigation because of his person relationship with the Hambys. Chief Deputy Brad Wiley spoke to KHBS, questioning how the Hambys could consider what happened a lesson.
“How would she understand? How could she differentiate between reality and a prank?” Wiley said. “I don’t understand how you could teach anybody anything through trauma, especially a crime or kidnapping. It doesn’t stand to reason.”
The daughter was placed in protective custody by te state. According to court records, Tammi Hamby was given a $125,000 bond, while Quach, Austria, and Childers were given bonds of $25,000.
Hamby resigned from her post with the Crawford County Library Board a week after the incident, saying in her resignation letter she was moving out of the county.
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[Featured image: Tammi Hamby/Crawford County Sheriff’s Office]