Idaho Woman Allegedly Kidnapped Her Daughter, Claimed Child Was Abused, Police Say

A woman from Idaho is facing up to 25 years behind bars after she was accused of kidnapping her daughter in Utah and then refused to give her back to the child’s grandmother, who had legal custody, authorities said.

On May 25, police said the girl was reported missing in Salt Lake City and believed to be possibly en route to Idaho Falls with her non-custodial mother, Jennifer Krysta Estrada, 32.

According to East Idaho News, Estrada phone her daughter’s grandmother while the woman was meeting with Idaho Falls police.

According to the outlet, Estrada allegedly confirmed she had the girl and told the grandmother to sue her before providing an address to find her, which police later determined was a vacant property.

Officers then followed up on an address the grandmother provided, and detectives spoke with a person at the residence who claimed Estrada orchestrated the alleged kidnapping because the suspect believed the girl’s father was abusing the child, police said.

When officers made contact with Estrada over the phone, she refused to hand over her daughter, claiming lawyers advised her she had custodial rights, according to East Idaho News.

The grandmother then told police the girl may be at a residence in Shelley, and officers responding to the address located the child alone in a camper trailer. When Estrada arrived back to the property, police arrested her on a second-degree kidnapping charge. She was being held at the Bonneville County jail.

According to Estrada, the child claimed her father broke her fingers so she went to Utah to pick her up. Officers reportedly found no evidence to support the allegations and the daughter denied her father ever hurt her or was abusive, police said.