The two young children taken from Grayson County on Thursday by their abusive non-custodial mother, Ellen Maples, have been found, and the childrens’ grandmother and a Grayson County man have been arrested for assisting Maples as she fled with the children.
Saturday night at approximately 7:45, local law enforcement was alerted that 56-year-old Karen L. Gibson, Maples’ mother, and 71-year-old Elmer Ray Smith, were attempting to send money to Maples from the Leitchfield Walmart Money Center.
Converging on Walmart were Grayson County Sheriff Norman Chaffins and Sgt. Fred Norder, Leitchfield Police Department Detectives Kevin Smith and Jesse Townsend, along with LPD Officers Bart Glenn and Chase Melton. Upon law enforcement’s arrival, Gibson and Smith were detained and questioned.
During questioning, an animated Chaffins could be heard telling Gibson rather emphatically, “You said yourself they (the children) aren’t safe with her!”
Gibson and Smith were arrested and charged with felony custodial interference. According to police, Smith had sent Maples money on at least one previous occasion since she kidnapped the children.
Then, at about 11:05 Sunday morning, the Grundy County (TN) Sheriff’s Office (about 210 miles southeast of Leitchfield, near Chattanooga, Tennessee) executed a traffic stop on Maples, 31, who was driving a Chrysler Town & Country minivan. According to Chaffins, Maples resisted police and had to be tased multiple times before being arrested.
The children, five-year-old Chyenne Williams and eight-year-old Carlie Geary, were found safe in the vehicle and transported to a location to be picked up by Kentucky social workers.
“This is the best possible ending we could have imagined,” Chaffins said. “Locating these girls was our number one priority and we are thankful that they are now safe. We are thankful to everyone who shared our post and especially thankful for our Tennessee ‘blue family’ for bringing these events to a peaceful end.”
The children, according to Chaffins, had been removed from Maples’ custody on Thursday morning and placed into state custody after “substantiated abuse and neglect by Maples.” Specifically, Chaffins said, “It was alleged that she ‘drug one of her children by the hair of her head to the pond and held her head under water.’”
It that instance, the child was “rescued by her grandmother who, after a few days, released her back to Maple’s custody,” Chaffins stated.
Additionally, police indicated there are multiple incidents of abuse and neglect that have been “substantiated by the cabinet.”
Maples is being held in the Grundy County Detention Center awaiting extradition to Grayson County.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
