Authorities arrest woman who abducted Clearlake child, stole vehicle
- Lake County News reports
- Posted On
NORTH COAST, Calif. – A Napa County woman was arrested on Thursday after authorities said she abducted a Clearlake woman’s child and also stole the woman’s vehicle.
Wanda Jean Cowan, 58, of American Canyon was arrested on Thursday evening, according to Sgt. James Wells of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
Wells said that at 5:25 p.m. Thursday deputies were dispatched to a possible stolen vehicle and child abduction at the Coyote Valley Casino in Redwood Valley.
When the deputies arrived at the scene they contacted a 40-year-old Clearlake woman who advised someone took her vehicle with her 16-month-old child inside it, Wells said.
The woman told deputies she had met the suspect, later identified as Wanda Cowan, the previous night and had traveled from Lake County to the Coyote Valley Casino on Thursday with her. Wells said that the woman reported that when she walked into the casino, Cowan left the area in her vehicle.
Wells said Cowan did not have permission to take the woman’s child or her vehicle from the casino area.
Deputies immediately issued a be on the lookout to surrounding law enforcement agencies for the vehicle and the child, Wells said.
Deputies were in the process of getting an AMBER Alert issued when Wells said a California Highway Patrol officer located the vehicle traveling on Highway 101 in Willits.
Wells said the CHP stopped the vehicle and the baby was located on the back seat, unrestrained.
The baby was not injured and was quickly reunited with her mother, Wells said.
Wells said Cowan was arrested for possession of stolen property, kidnapping and child endangerment.
Cowan was booked into the Mendocino County Jail without incident, where she was to be held in lieu of $250,000 bail, Wells said.