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MONTICELLO — Charges have been filed against a Moab man accused of helping a woman kidnap three children from a Utah foster home, eventually resulting in a two-hour armed standoff in Colorado.
Edward L. Gough, 52, was charged Friday in San Juan County's 7th District Court with three counts of child kidnapping, a first-degree felony; obstructing justice, a second-degree felony; and transaction of a firearm by a restricted person, a second-degree felony.
The charges come on the heels of charges filed Aug. 8 in 7th District Court against Kimberly Kay Bettleyoun, 31, of San Juan County. She was charged with three counts of child kidnapping, a first-degree felony.
In May, Bettleyoun lost custody of her three young children, according to charging documents. On July 6, she got her children to open the bedroom window of their foster home around midnight, push out the screen and climb out, charges state.
Investigators searching for the children found them and Bettleyoun in a tent outside Rico, Colorado, charges state. But as deputies attempted to take her into custody, Bettleyoun "retrieved a gun from the tent and held the officers at bay for approximately two hours," according to charging documents.
Bettleyoun eventually surrendered without further incident. She now faces criminal charges in Colorado and is awaiting court proceedings on that case before being extradited back to Utah to face child kidnapping charges.
