ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. (WRBL) – A 7-year-old boy reported missing from Alexander City has been found safe, and two adults are now in custody on kidnapping allegations after authorities say they took the child across multiple state lines.
The child, identified earlier in a public alert as Jerico Tyrone Watkins, was unharmed and has been reunited with his father.
According to Chief Jerry Turner with the Alexander City Police Department, the kidnapping was reported on Friday, Sept. 19, one day after the child disappeared from a residence on Thomas Road. Investigators say Sonya Watkins, 42, of Federal Way, Washington, and Jonathan Watkins, 44, of Alexander City, allegedly lured the child into a vehicle and fled the area. Investigators have not said how the pair is related to the child, although they share the same last time.
Detectives determined the suspects traveled out of Alabama and as far as Minnesota with the boy. Working alongside the U.S. Marshals Middle District of Alabama and the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force, investigators tracked the suspects back into Alabama.
On Sunday, Sept. 21 at 8:30 p.m., officers located the child and both suspects at a restaurant in Montgomery. Sonya and Jonathan Watkins were taken into custody without incident and are now charged with Kidnapping 1st Degree. They were booked into the Tallapoosa County Jail, where they await a bond hearing.
Authorities say the investigation is ongoing and additional details may be released as the case develops.
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