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SALT LAKE CITY -- A woman accused of kidnapping her daughter in Pennsylvania three weeks ago has been arrested in Utah.
Friday night, the Joint Criminal Apprehension Team (JCAT) located Laura Kilmer and her 4-year-old daughter in West Valley City. They didn't arrest Kilmer because she had told her estranged husband she would shoot the girl and herself if she saw police. JCAT waited until the mother and daughter were momentarily separated to make a move. Sunday night they got the opportunity.
Officers followed Kilmer from her sister's apartment in West Valley City to a 7-Eleven at 3510 S. Redwood Rd. Kilmer filled her car with gas. When she went inside to pay, she left her daughter in the car. JCAT arrested Kilmer inside the store and took her daughter safely into custody.
Jim Phelps with the U.S. Marshals Office said, "This child has gone through a lot. She used to have long red hair. The mother has cut it down to where she almost looked like a boy. We believe this was part of an effort to keep her concealed from the public."
After removing the girl from the car, JCAT searched the vehicle and found a loaded handgun. Officers then called the girl's father in Pennsylvania, who has full legal custody of her, to tell him his daughter was OK.
"We're real happy about this," Phelps said. "I've been on the phone with the father and he's just ecstatic to be able to get his daughter back."
Kilmer has been booked into the Salt Lake County Jail but is expected to be extradited to Pennsylvania to face charges of parental kidnapping. Phelps said she also faces possible charges in Utah for transporting a child across state lines.
"We'll look at possible charges with the U.S. Attorney's Office, especially where a firearm was involved. That will be up to them to decide," he said.
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Story written with contributions from Shara Park and Andrew Adams.
