Two Pre-Adolescent Girls Arrested for Kidnapping Baby

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Those bemoaning the state of "kids today" will not be comforted by this story.

Two pre-adolescent Oklahoma girls broke into their neighbor’s house at 5:30 Thursday morning, kidnapped the woman’s 21-month-old son Brandon, and left a ransom note demanding $200,000.

The neighbor, Sheila Wells, was asleep and didn’t wake up when the girls entered the house.

The note, which was signed "the kidnappers," read, "If you want to see your son again then you won’t call the police and report him missing and you will leave $200,000 on the sofa tonight and we will return your son back safe."

Fortunately, the girls’ mother intervened before Wells even woke up to realize her son was gone.

When the girls, who have not been identified because of their ages, returned to their home, their mother recognized the boy right away as Wells’ son. Her daughters told her they had found him outside on the corner.

After the mother tried to phone Sheila Wells, the 12-year-old went back to the Wells’ house and knocked on the door, telling her what had happened and blaming the whole incident on her younger sister.

Wells got her son back immediately, and phoned the police.

Enid, Oklahoma police captain Dean Wells told reporters, "It definitely ranks up there with the unusual crimes. I’ve been doing this 18 ½ years, and this is the first time I know of when a 10- and a 12-year-old kidnapped a one-year-old."

The case has baffled Sheila Wells and her family. Kathy Wells, Sheila’s mother, said to reporters, "I never could dream of a kid doing that." She added that the 10-year-old girl had previously been a friend of one of Sheila’s other children, until she began acting strangely, telling the Wells’ children they were adopted. Wells banned the girl from her home shortly after that.

"I couldn’t believe a 10-year-old girl would come into my house and take my son for I don’t know what reason," said Sheila, adding that when she went to claim her son, the girl denied the kidnapping but said she wanted to be Brandon’s "new mommy."

Apparently the two had entered the house through a side door, and the locks are being changed.

The girls were arrested for suspicion of burglary, extortion, and kidnapping, and taken to the Community Intervention Center for juveniles. They appeared in court on Thursday afternoon.

Little Brandon Wells seems to be doing just fine after his ordeal, says his mother, though she added, "He’s had a long day."

Despite the locks being changed at her home and the girls’ arrest, Sheila Wells is still unnerved by the incident.

"It’s still not going to help me sleep at night," she told reporters, "It makes me want to move."