Tucson, Arizona – Three Springfield children missing since March are safe tonight after US Marshals located them, their birth mother and her wife in Tuscon, Arizona on Friday, May 13th.
Authorities say the three minor children were taken from their home by their non-custodial mother, Brittany Barnes and her wife Ceairah Beverly on March 23rd, 2022.
The children, aged 10, 9, and 8 were in the custody of the State of Missouri when it is alleged that their birth mother, Barnes and her wife, Beverly took the children without permission during a scheduled visitation.
Barnes and Beverly then fled the state of Missouri with the children, in a black SUV, according to US Marshals.
On April 8, 2022, an arrest warrant was issued out of Greene County Missouri for Brittany Barnes
and Ceairah Beverly charging the couple with Kidnapping and Custodial Interference stemming from the
March 23rd incident.
On May 5, 2022, investigators from Springfield requested U.S. Marshals Service assistance in locating the three children along with the arresting Barnes and Beverly on their felony warrant for kidnapping.
US Marshals were able to track down Barnes and Beverly in the Tucson, AZ area, and believed the five were staying in a hotel.
Deputy Marshals in Arizona collaborated with members of Missouri’s U.S. Marshals Service Midwest Violent Fugitive Task Force, conducting an in-depth investigation into the location of all 5 individuals.
Several days of surveillance were conducted at possible locations throughout the city of Tucson,
however, Barnes, Beverly and the children were not identified at those locations.
On May 13, 2022, task force members in Tucson were able to locate the SUV at a hotel at Casino Del Sol.
At around noon on Friday, May 13th, Barnes, Beverly and the children were observed leaving the hotel and getting into the SUV.
Law enforcement was able to contact the fugitives and take them into custody without incident. The children were recovered safely and turned over to Arizona Department of Child Safety pending their return to Missouri.
Barnes and Beverly were then transported and booked into the Pima County Adult Detention
Center on their felony warrants and are awaiting extradition to Missouri.
