An Iowa police chief found a 6-day-old baby boy Friday who was abducted Thursday morning from his cradle in a Wisconsin home.
Kayden Powell was found 250 miles away from home outside a gas station in West Branch, Iowa.
Forty police officers were dispatched to a 911 call in search of the infant.
FBI agent G.B. Jones reported that the baby’s cries led police officers to the exact location during the search.
“Our efforts are clearly focused on reuniting mother and child and the rest of the family members with the child. That’s the immediate focus. In fact, we’re taking steps right now to make sure that happens,” Jones said after finding the baby in a plastic storage bin amid the frigid winter temperatures.(image)
The mother, 18-year-old Brianna Marshall of Beloit, Wis., woke up around 4:30 a.m. to find her baby boy missing.
Police officers said that Marshall and the baby’s father Bruce Powell, 23, were staying at the house at the time of the infant’s disappearance. Marshall’s alleged stepsister, Kristin Smith, was also at the house, but left around 1:30 a.m. to travel back to Colorado where she lives.
Family members, including Kayden’s parents, were questioned and said to be cooperating with authorities.
Beloit Police Chief Steven Kopp said that because there was no forced entry, the disappearance raised even more questions.
Unrelated charges were brought against Smith Friday afternoon for warrants based out in Texas.
Smith, 31, was arrested outside of the same gas station where Kayden was found and was initially said to be a “person of interest.”
According to the Daily Mail, she reported to police officers that she was the half-sister of Marshall and that both had discussed moving to Colorado, along with Powell, following Kayden’s birth.
Smith is currently being held in an Iowa jail and now faces up to life in prison if convicted of kidnapping.
Kayden was reported to be in perfect health and has been reunited with his family.