An 11-year-old child reported missing from Iowa City was found early Monday in Indianapolis, as confirmed by the Indiana State Police. The child was believed to have been taken by a non-custodial parent, according to the Iowa City Police Department. Fox59 reports that the information provided by the Iowa detectives led to a search across state lines, with the expectation that the child was en route to the East Coast.
Local authorities were alerted around 2 a.m. Monday, the search for the suspect's vehicle, a grey 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix, was initiated quickly. Nearly 40 minutes later, a state trooper located the car at a gas station on Lafayette Road just off I-65, inside the vehicle was the child and two adults, "They believed the suspect was a non-custodial parent and she was taking the 11 year old to the East Coast, likely traveling through Indiana," WISH-TV was told by ISP Public Information Officer Sgt. John Perrine.
Ronique Pittman, 36, of Goldsboro, North Carolina, was among the adults found with the child and was subsequently arrested on an Iowa arrest warrant for child abduction by a non-custodial parent. According to WRTV, the 11-year-old was taken under the care of the Department of Child Services to facilitate a reunion with the custodial parent.
The Iowa City Police Department remains the lead agency in the ongoing investigation of the abduction case. The child was picked up by the Department of Child Services to arrange reunification with the custodial parent, says Perrine in a statement made to WISH-TV.
