A woman who abducted her own daughters in a fierce custody battle has been arrested 30 years after vanishing with the girls.
On August 26, 1985, Elaine Yates, now aged 69, took her four-year-old and 10-month-old daughters from their home in Rhode Island and vanished into Texas where they lived under a new surname.
Kimberly and Kelly were astonished to learn that their father had been looking for them all this time, and that their mother could be facing 20 years in prison.
Kelly was 10 months old.
Kimberly was 4 years old.
Elaine’s ex-husband doesn’t want her prosecuted.
Their father, Russell Yates told Providence Journal that he was ‘dumbfounded’ and ‘relieved’ to know where his girls are and that he does not want his ex-wife Elaine to be punished.
‘That ain’t going to help her, me or anybody else at this point,’ he told WCVB. ‘I just want to see my kids.’
Russell was awarded full custody of the girls when the couple divorced because Elaine failed to show up to the custody hearing.
Later Russell would return home after a bar shift and discover his daughters gone.
‘And now at least it’s up to them to get in touch with me,’ he says.
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