March 11, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Five People Arrested In Kidnapping Case
DECATUR – Two young children have been returned to safety and a total of 5 people arrested just two days after a violent abduction alleged to have involved the family of the children.
Decatur Police working with several state and national agencies were able to recover the children unhurt at about 1:20 a.m. Wednesday in St. Louis, MO after their abduction at about 3:05 p.m. Tuesday. Police stopped the vehicle thought to have been used in the escape near Litchfield, IL about 20 minutes prior to rescuing the children.
Arrested in the case and preliminarily charged with aggravated kidnapping are:
- Ebonie Neylon, 22, the mother of the two children.
- Doris D. Neylon, 39, the children’s grandmother, occupant of the escape vehicle.
- Donovan S. Neylon, 18, an uncle, occupant of escape vehicle and alleged to be one of the armed gunmen who attacked the social workers
- Marcus D. Upchurch, 26, father of one of the children and stepfather to other child, married to Ebonie Neylon and believed to be one of the armed gunmen.
- Loretta S. Thomas, 17, the girlfriend of Donovan Neylon and also in the escape vehicle.
All who were arrested are being held in the Macon County Jail. The children were already in the house in St. Louis when the vehicle was stopped near Litchfield and are now in the custody of the Department of Children & Family Services. Marcus Upchurch was arrested late last night in the 1600 block of North Monroe St.
The abduction occurred Tuesday following a supervised visit between the two children and their mother. Two armed suspects following the visit approached the children and two social workers and demanded the keys to the van. The suspects later attacked the two workers before fleeing with the children on foot.
The social workers attempted to stop the abduction but were unsuccessful.
The multistate search and rescue operation involved more than 26 officers working immediately after the abduction to return the children to safety including officers from the Decatur Police Department, FBI, U.S. Marshalls and the St. Louis Police Department with assistance from the Adam Walsh Foundation.
Decatur police continue to investigate the case and ask anyone who may have seen anything to call 424-2734 or 423-TIPS.