Ohio Couple Calls Police Over Missing Kids, Ends Up in Handcuffs After Shocking Discovery

Authorities arrested a couple from Ohio after they reported their children missing. Investigators later learned that the children had run away from the couple’s home as a result of extreme physical abuse.

The couple, Julie Barfield, 47, and Kim Brown-Barfield, 43, were taken into custody and charged with one count each of endangering children and felonious assault, according to court records.

The investigation into the missing children began on May 17, when the couple reported that two of their adopted children, ages 8 and 10, were missing from their home in the 1400 block of Pine Street in South Columbus, at about 11 p.m., according to WSYX. Brown-Barfield reportedly drove around the neighbourhood searching for them for about two hours before calling authorities to report the missing.

Deputies with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office located the children on a nearby street after being flagged down by a resident. The children told deputies that they fled the home because they were being physically abused by their parents, Barfield and Brown-Barfield.

According to the probable cause affidavit, a deputy observed that one of the children had a busted lip and marks on their stomach, according to WBNS. The child said those injuries came from being slammed into a wall earlier that day.

Detectives took the children to Nationwide Children’s Hospital for emergency medical evaluations. While there, the 10-year-old reportedly detailed how her parents would beat the children with a belt, tie their hands behind their backs, and systematically starve them as punishment. The children also told hospital staff that they had been burned by hot water earlier that day, according to WCMH.

Detectives and Franklin County Children Services officials later went to the Pine Street home, where they recovered several pieces of evidence before transporting the parents to the Franklin County Detective Bureau for formal interviews.

During the interviews, one of the women gave detectives what court documents described as “soft admission.” Both suspects allegedly admitted to “witnessing and being involved in the physical abuse of the children during their care,” according to court documents. The suspects were then taken into custody.

A judge set bond at $75,000 for both women on May 20 and issued a court order prohibiting them from having contact with the children and each other. Both defendants are due back in court for a preliminary hearing on May 29.