TOPEKA, Kan. — Police arrested two suspects in connection with the missing 8-year-old Topeka girl who was found Saturday night in Topeka, Kansas. Officers blocked off the 2600 block of Southeast Ohio and Southeast Pioneer Way in attempt to find answers.
Neighbors told WIBW reporter Ariana Cohen that the victim was at her grandmother’s house before she went missing. Patricia Glidewell said that she heard a report of a missing girl and then spotted a young girl walking outside by herself.
“I realized that that right there was the missing child,” Glidewell said.
Glidewell asked her if she was lost and then the child explained what had happened. Glidewell said she told her she escaped from a vacant house at 25th and Ohio.
“They went in through a broken window, they tied her up, and she got herself untied,” Glidewell said.
The vacant house
That’s when the girl went looking for help and encountered Glidewell, who said police picked up the child and transported her to an area hospital.
“She had scratches on the back of her neck, and on her face, she looked like somebody had hit her,” Glidewell said. ” I feel like she saved herself. I’m just so grateful she is OK. I feel like this could have ended up bad.”
Jeremy James Lindsey
Saturday night, Topeka Police arrested two suspects, 28-year-old Jeremy J. Lindsey and 23-year-old Michelle L. Harris on aggravated kidnapping and aggravating child endangerment charges. Lindsey was also booked for aggravated burglary and a parole violation warrant.
Michelle Lee Harris
The victim’s mother, who said she didn’t know Lindsey or Harris, reported that her daughter was still in the hospital, but did not elaborate on her condition.
Major Jerry Stanley said an Amber Alert was not issued because the case did not meet the criteria required for KBI to issue an alert.
