COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – A Coeur d’Alene mom is in custody after fleeing the country with a one-year-old child this summer.
During their initial investigation, the Sandpoint Police Department learned that Laurel E. Hannah, 40, had likely fled the county with her one-year-old son, who she does not have custody of. Fears rose that the child was in danger, so the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Greater Idaho Fugitive Task Force in Coeur d’Alene joined the investigation to find Hannah.
On Aug. 23, Hannah was arrested 4000 miles away by authorities in Costa Rica at the request of the United States. The child was found safe and brought back to the United States.
USMS worked with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs to extradite Hannah from Costa Rica to Idaho. On Nov. 30, Hannah arrived back in the States, where she is being charged with second-degree kidnapping by the Bonner County Prosecutor’s Office.
“Thank you to all the agencies coming together on this case, especially since there was a child involved,” Sandpoint Police Chief Corey Coon said.
