2 children found safe in Maine, mother arrested after NH Amber Alert
SOMERSWORTH, N.H. - New Hampshire State Police say two children who were the subject of an Amber Alert Friday have been found safe in Maine and their mother has been arrested.
Police issued the alert just before 5 a.m. for an 11-year-old girl and her 8-year-old brother. The two, who live in Somersworth, N.H., were abducted by their biological mother, according to investigators.
The children live with their grandmother, who has legal guardianship. Police said she last saw the kids around 7:30 p.m. Thursday before she fell asleep. When she woke up around 9:30 p.m. they were gone, she couldn't find them and she called police.
Officers found a window in the home was left open and a screen had been removed. They believe the mother, 32-year-old Kaileigh Nichols, went into the house, took her children and left.
Somerville Police Chief Timothy McLin said they contacted New Hampshire State Police, who then issued the Amber Alert at 4:45 a.m.
After hours of searching, all three were found safe at a hotel in South Portland, Maine. Nichols was arrested and charged with two counts of felony interference with custody. She will be brought back to New Hampshire at some point after appearing in court in Maine. McLin would not say if anyone else was involved.
"Kaileigh Nichols suffers from drug addiction and is known to have mental health issues," State Police said in the alert.
McLin said Nichols, who lives in Lebanon, Maine, was in Somersworth Thursday for an end of the school year event. She was driving a relative's Honda Civic with a Maine license plate, which became part of the Amber Alert early Friday.
"The Amber Alert absolutely helped. It provides instantaneous information to both law enforcement, other businesses, citizens," McLin told reporters at a news conference Friday. "It's a fantastic tool and the purpose of that tool is to lead to the outcome that we've achieved which is the children involved in an Amber Alert being safely recovered."
