Woman Arrested in Missouri for Allegedly Kidnapping Infant Nearly 13 Years Ago

Sandy Hatte, 60, is accused of abducting a child in 2000.

ByABC News
September 22, 2013, 11:13 AM

Sept. 22, 2013— -- A 60-year-old woman is under arrest in Missouri in connection with an alleged child abduction case that took place nearly 13 years ago in Florida, authorities said.

Sandy Hatte, who is related to the child's family, is accused of kidnapping an infant back in 2000, according to the Livingston County Sheriff's Office.

"The dad was working, came home from work, and [Hatte] was gone with the baby," Detective Eric Menconi of the Livingston County Sherriff's Office told ABC News. "He hasn't been able to find them since."

Authorities were alerted to the case when a Livingston County school official became suspicious of Hatte when she tried to enroll the now-teenager at school, Menconi said.

"They had some concerns about an individual who had enrolled a child into school and had some concerns if they were the actual parent," he said.

Police investigating the case discovered that the child had been missing for more than a decade, the news release said. Hatte and the teen had only been living in Livingston County for about 30 days, and had lived in a number of other areas before.

Officials took custody of the child at school on Wednesday and the child and father were soon reunited, according to the sheriff's office.

"It was a good reunion," Merconi said. "You could tell within the first three minutes they hit it off pretty well. Since then, I've been on the phone with the dad and from what I'm understanding, it's going pretty well."

Hatte was arrested for on suspicion of child abduction. She was being held on a $25,000 bond at the Davvies-Dekalb Regional Jail in Pattonsburg, Mo.

Authorities have not released the name or gender of the child, the father's name, or the state in which the family currently resides because of safety concerns. There is no information to suggest the child was ever in danger, the sheriff's office statement said.

Investigators confirmed Hatte is not the child's mother, and would only go as far to say that she is related to the family, according to the news release.