The suspects remain at large in the Saturday afternoon child custody abduction of a year old Chadron girl who was recovered unharmed by authorities in South Dakota.
Chadron Police Chief Tim Lordino says one of the suspects is Aimy Dixon, the aunt of 13-month old Mystery Brings Plenty, while the other is Jesse Morrison, whom Lordino says has a significant criminal history, primarily for assault.
Lordino says it is likely charges will be filed today against the couple after additional review of the circumstances surrounding the case.
Lordino says Dixon and her sister, the girl’s mother, were involved in a custody dispute last year, with Dixon saying she was awarded custody by the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
Lordino says Dixon was told in April that she would need to file for custody through the state.
The girl’s mother told officers Saturday she’d had no contact with Dixon since then until late that morning, when Dixon and Morrison allegedly pulled off a window screen at the mother’s home, allowing another child to crawl in and unlock a screen door to let them in.
Lordino says Dixon and Morrison then allegedly assaulted the mother and another adult before leaving with Mystery Brings Plenty. After a brief investigation, his department contacted the Nebraska State Patrol which quickly determined the case met the requirements for an Amber Alert and issued one.
Because the victims knew their assailants, Lordino says one of the first places officers went was Dixon’s residence…where they found the car that had been used to take the girl from her mothers. Dixon’s car was gone, so its description was added to the Amber Alert.
A Fall River County, SD, sheriff’s deputy later spotted and stopped the car, finding the toddler inside along with 2 other adults but not Dixon or Morrison. Neither adult was arrested, and Lordino says that’s because Dixon had called his office during the Amber Alert and said that while she wouldn’t bring the girl back, she would have someone else do it.
His understanding is that a tribal judge had called and spoken with the people transporting the toddler and told them to bring her to Pine Ridge, and that they were headed there when stopped by the deputy. Brings Plenty was placed in the custody of the OST equivalent of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Lordino says the Amber Alert did exactly what it was meant to do: let law enforcement and the public know that a child abduction had occurred and give then a description of the vehicle believed involved.
“We had a lot of personnel and the Alert went out over the radio and cell phones, so we received a lot of tip information as we moved through the afternoon.
Lordino credits the public input and the cooperation between the various law enforcement agencies with helping bring the incident to a safe and swift conclusion.