Amber Alert ends with recovery of Moses Lake baby
Candice Boutilier/Columbia Basin Herald<br> A detective holds the 9-month-old baby girl they recovered after issuing an Amber Alert Tuesday. The father was taken into custody.
MOSES LAKE — A 9-month-old Moses Lake girl was safely recovered by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office after a statewide Amber Alert was issued to locate her Tuesday.
The sheriff’s office issued an alert for the baby after the mother reported her missing following an incident of domestic violence the previous day. The 18-year-old mother and the father of her child, Kevin J. Vielle, 18, Moses Lake, were allegedly involved in a physical altercation, said Grant County Undersheriff John Turley.
Vielle reportedly took the woman to a mutual friend’s house and left her there after the fight. He allegedly stated he would be back for her the following morning on Tuesday and kept the baby, Turley said. Vielle did not come back for her.
The woman called 9-1-1 and reported the domestic violence and reported her baby missing, he said. Previously she did not have access to a phone to report either incident.
“When deputies made contact with (her) they saw that she had two black eyes and numerous bruises on her arms,” Turley stated. “What precipitated the assault was an accusation by Vielle that (she) was trying to poison him and their 9-month-old daughter. During the assault on (the mother), she alleges that Vielle forced her to drink Pine-Sol and that if she didn’t, he would force the child to drink the cleaning liquid.”
After interviewing her, deputies went back to the Doolittle Drive home, where the fight happened, in an attempt to locate the Pine-Sol and the baby. Neither were found.
The Amber Alert was initiated after emergency dispatch received a call from Vielle’s mother. She advised he asked her why the police were at his residence and he allegedly stated he was “dead” and the baby was “dead” and “you will never ever see us again.”
The sheriff’s office determined Vielle was reportedly driving a red 2005 Dodge Neon registered to his mother, Turley said. The alert was issued because police believed Vielle could flee to an Indian reservation in Montana where his father lives.
Several off-duty deputies offered to assist in the effort to locate the baby and the FBI and Washington State Patrol were notified.
About two hours after the alert was issued, the car was found abandoned at Larson Elementary, Turley said. The alert was cancelled and the vehicle was towed to a secure location for further investigation.
During the afternoon, deputies were making contact with Vielle’s friends to obtain information to find the suspect and the baby, he said. Sheriff’s deputies surrounded Doolittle Drive waiting for the man to arrive.
“Contact with neighbors proved fruitful as friends and associates of Vielle had made phone contact with him and encouraged him to at least give up the child to law enforcement to secure the child’s safety,” Turley stated. “Upon the arrival of Vielle’s mother from her work, she took detectives to a possible location on Mitchell Avenue where the 9-month-old and Vielle were located.”
Vielle came back to where the baby was taken and placed into custody for assault in the second degree-domestic violence.
Turley said the 18-year-old female was referred to New Hope and is staying in a safe-house. The child was being cared for by Child Protective Services until an investigation about physical assault and chemical poisoning is complete.
Law enforcement tended to the baby while Vielle was taken into custody. At the scene, resident Carlos Santacruz gave the baby a coat and toys.