A Putnam County mother who was legally barred from unsupervised contact with her child allegedly broke into a relative's home before dawn Friday, grabbed the child, and fled to a nearby church, where deputies found the pair hiding in a bathroom hours later. Amanda Lynn Burkes, 34, was taken into custody after a multi-hour search that began with a 3:19 a.m. call to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.
According to Palatka Daily News, the child's biological grandmother reported that the back door of a home on Ranchette Trail in Palatka was open and the child was missing. Burkes had been prohibited from unsupervised contact with the child under a court order, and deputies allege she broke into the residence before taking the child. The Sheriff's Office issued a reverse 911 call to neighbors in the area as deputies began searching, according to the same report.
Investigators say Burkes ran with the child to Oakhill Baptist Church, where deputies found them hiding in a bathroom at 9:12 a.m. near the intersection of Comer and Bardin roads. Sheriff Homer “Gator” DeLoach III said deputies safely recovered the child, and the Sheriff's Office reported that the child was found safe. Per the Palatka Daily News report, Burkes had used another child's phone to call a friend for a ride during the ordeal, and investigators say she also approached a different child at a school bus stop.
Charges Pile On Top of Pending Drug Case
Jail records show Burkes was charged with interfering with the custody of a minor and burglary, according to the Palatka Daily News, and her bond was set at $2,500. Deputies also booked her on new counts of drug possession and drug paraphernalia after finding THC wax and e-cigarettes containing THC liquid, according to a Putnam County Sheriff's Office statement relayed on Facebook by N' Cuffs. Burkes was in custody at the Putnam County Jail as of 5 p.m. Friday.
Under Florida Statute § 787.03, taking a minor from a court-appointed custodian without legal authority is interference with custody, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to Online Sunshine. The burglary count is even more serious: entering an occupied dwelling with intent to commit an offense inside is classified as burglary of an occupied dwelling, a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years in state prison and fines up to $10,000, per the Brancato Law Firm.
A Prior Arrest at Another Bardin Road Church
Friday's incident echoes a case from May, when deputies found Burkes unconscious behind the wheel of a car parked at Midway Baptist Church on Bardin Road with three young children — ages seven months, two years and four years — asleep in the back seat. According to court documents cited by Law & Crime, deputies found nearly 30 grams of methamphetamine in the vehicle. That arrest led to charges of trafficking amphetamine and three counts of child neglect, along with possession of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a place of worship, possession of a vehicle for drug activity, marijuana possession and possession of drug equipment, the outlet reported.
Both church encounters played out along or near Bardin Road, a rural stretch north of Palatka, a pattern the same report notes across the two cases. It was the May arrest that established the legal basis for the court-ordered safety plan awarding custody to a family member and barring Burkes from unsupervised contact with the child — the very order authorities say she violated Friday.
Florida's child neglect statute, § 827.03(2)(d), defines the offense as a caregiver's failure to provide necessary supervision to maintain a minor's physical or mental health, a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison, according to the Law Office of Leanna J. Smith. Sheriff DeLoach said Burkes continually endangered her children, though the criminal allegations remain unproven in court pending formal adjudication.
Search Relied on Old-Fashioned Legwork
The search for Burkes and her child unfolded just days after Sheriff DeLoach announced that the Putnam County Sheriff's Office was immediately disconnecting and removing all automated license plate reader cameras across the county pending further statewide regulatory guidance, according to First Coast News. Without that automated tracking tool, deputies relied on the reverse 911 alert and patrols to locate Burkes, ultimately finding her within hours at the Bardin Road church. Sheriff DeLoach, who has led the agency since first being elected in 2016 and was reelected in 2020 and 2024 after rising through roles including Drug Unit sergeant and Criminal Investigations lieutenant, has kept child safety and drug enforcement central to his public messaging, according to the Florida Sheriffs Association.
