How Was Abducted Indiana Girl's Alleged Stalker Able To Violate Order Of Protection?
CROWN POINT, Ind. (CBS) -- A 16-year-old girl was back home with her parents in Crown Point, Indiana, Monday night, after being found 600 miles away with a man who had already been charged with stalking her.
On Monday, CBS 2's Megan Hickey set out to determine how all of that was allowed to happen despite the girl, Madison Eddlemon, having an order of protection against her stalker.
CBS 2 has learned that Alex Curry-Fishtorn, 22, had already violated the order of protection – but was allowed to bond out. Just weeks later, the girl's family said he abducted her and transported her across state lines.
Indiana State Police issued a statewide AMBER Alert early Sunday morning for Madison. She was believed to be in "extreme danger."
Madison was later found outside Little Rock, Arkansas, in Fishtorn's company. Her hair is naturally blonde, but it was dyed black.
Fishtorn's face is frighteningly familiar to Eddlemon's mother, Nichole Cain.
Court records show their family filed for an order of protection against Fishtorn in March for "stalking her and making her contact him, and if she didn't, stuff was going to happen – and it all spiraled into this," Cain said.
Cain told CBS 2 that Fishtorn met the 16-year-old while working as an assistant to the trainers at the Marine Corps Recruitment Center in Crown Point. Madison had been training at the recruitment center.
Records show Fishtorn was served with the protection order, but on July 12 he was charged with violating it – stalking Eddlemon and making threats.
He paid only $2,945 to bond out of jail in that case, and wasn't due back in court for another month.
But on Friday night, according to Eddlemon's mother, Fishtorn found the teen while out driving and forced her to come with him.
"She said she was kicking and screaming when he grabbed her and just took off," Cain said.
Fishtorn was in police custody Monday afternoon. CBS 2 reached out to his family to comment, but they told us they had nothing to say.
As for that order of protection, former U.S Secret Service Agent and violence risk management expert Matthew W. Doherty told Hickey that ultimately, "It's just a piece of paper, unfortunately."
Penalties vary by state. While Illinois has specific guidelines for probation, conditional discharge, or supervision, Indiana's statute is much vaguer.
"There were attack-related behaviors such as harassing and stalking," said Doherty, now senior vice president at the enterprise risk management consulting firm Hillard Heintze. "Clearly, this meets the criteria of somebody being a grave concern, and I hope the court is dealing with that appropriately."
At last check, Fishtorn had not yet been charged in the case. As for Fishtorn's official status, if any, with the Marine Corps, CBS 2 was still waiting on a response Monday afternoon.