Mother At Center Of Amber Alert Claims Baby Is Safe, But Attorney Won't Tell Authorities Where They Are
STANISLAUS COUNTY (CBS13) — The attorney for the young mother accused of taking her newborn from Utah to Modesto claims he knows where the mother and baby are.
Audrey Westfall is only three-and-a-half weeks old but is already at the center of both an Amber Alert and a guardianship battle. Police say her mother, Taylor Webb, drove from Modesto to a neighborhood in Clinton, Utah, after losing custody of her daughter.
Webb reportedly took little Audrey from her grandmother, who was given temporary guardianship of the baby.
In declaration documents obtained by CBS13, Webb says, "I was able to escape from my mother's home on November 20th, and I am now safe and sound, as is my child, in California."
Webb made that move Wednesday afternoon, sparking an Amber Alert.
Granite Bay Attorney Joe Weinberger says he knows the location of mother and baby, but won't tell the police.
"They are safe and sound in a really careful, caring, wonderful home," Weinberger said.
He won't say where that home is. Weinberger said after Webb was put in a coma because of complications during birth, a story emerged, alleging the baby's father, who also lives in Modesto, had been abusive.
The documents claim Webb was coerced into signing over temporary custody, agreeing to move in with her mom in Utah, to help care for her child. She is also quoted in the documents saying, "I am perfectly capable of caring for my daughter."
Police in Utah are worried. "We feel this baby may be in danger. We want to verify she is safe," a Clinton City police spokesperson said.
Webb's lawyer calls the Amber Alert "an overreaction." He says he's let law enforcement know mom and baby are fine. Police confirmed they were contacted by Webb's lawyer.
Weinberger also wanted to give law enforcement this message: "Please stand down. Don't put a mother and child at risk. Don't be overzealous."
For now, he tells us that mother and baby will remain in hiding.
