Woman charged with abducting her children nearly a year after they were reported ‘missing’ in Missouri

On Wednesday, 36-year-old Kristi Nicole Gilley was arrested in Florida for the abduction of her non-custodial children, 11-year-old Brooke and 12-year-old Adrian Gilley, who were taken from their home state of Missouri on March 15, 2022.

According to a statement from High Springs Police Department, "Officers located the trio shopping in Winn Dixie, after disguising their identities. The non-custodial mother, Kristi Nicole Gilley, DOB 01-01-1987, was detained and arrested on an active kidnapping warrant out of Clay County, Missouri."

"The children were turned over to the Florida Department of Children and Families Services and will be reunited with their birth family," according to the statement.

The children and Gilley wore disguises when she was arrested in the supermarket. Police had tracked her after a routine vehicle tag check revealed that the owner was a fugitive.

The Winn Dixie supermarket, located about 20 miles outside of Gainesville, was over 1,100 miles away from the children's home in Missouri. The two were taken into the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families Services, which brought them back to their family.

According to the Daily Mail, Missouri's Liberty Police Department said, "Both Gilley kids have been safely located out of state. Their non-custodial mother is in custody on parental kidnapping charges out of Clay County, Missouri. Thank you to everyone who shared this post as it helped bring these children home!!!"

According to Law&Crime, Gilley has a Florida public defender out of Gainesville, William Miller, listed as her attorney. 

Gilley remains in Florida's Alachua County Sheriff's Office custody but is expected to be extradited to Clay County, where her warrant originated.