As she was being approached by a throng of cops, bodycam footage of accused child abductor Debra Newton‘s arrest shows a neighbor jokingly telling her, “They’re coming for you, Sharon.” And indeed, they were coming for her — but Sharon was her assumed name.
Newton, 66, was arrested in Florida on November 24 by deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and is now charged in Kentucky with felony custodial interference for the parental abduction of her now 46-year-old daughter, Michelle Marie Newton, back in 1983 (Michelle was raised under a different name). A tip to police sparked an investigation that led to Michelle’s recent reunion with her father, Joe Newton. The Newtons were set to move to Georgia, but they left in separate vehicles. Deborah took off first with Michelle. When the father arrived at their new house, Debra and Michelle were not there and never showed up.
Newton, a resident of the Villages, was walking her dog and talking to her neighbor when deputies pulled up to her home and started walking her way. Newton’s neighbor thought she was being pranked.
It was no prank. Newtown is heard in the bodycam footage repeatedly telling her neighbor and sheriff’s deputies — and in time, her husband, who came out of the house to retrieve their dog — that she didn’t do anything to merit police attention.
She was led off in handcuffs, and has since been extradited to Kentucky, where there is no statute of limitations on non-custodial parent abductions.
It was discovered Michelle was alive last year, thanks to a phone tip called into a Florida Crime Stoppers line. Joe and Michelle were reunited last month.
Woman Reunited With Father 43 Years After Being Kidnapped at 3 Years Old
Investigators told WLKY they finally caught a break in the case last year with the anonymous tip. Just two weeks ago, Michelle returned home from work to find policemen at her door. She couldn’t even comprehend what they were telling her.
“This is the kind of case you see once in a law enforcement career,” Chief Deputy Colonel. Steve Healey said in a news release after Michelle Newtown was located. “Detectives refused to let the trail go cold. Their work — and the courage of a Crime Stoppers tipster — brought a daughter home to her family after four decades.”
“’You’re not who you think you are. You’re a missing person. You’re Michelle Marie Newton,’” she recalled the police telling her.
“I wouldn’t trade that moment for anything,” Joe said of the long-awaited reunion. “It was just like I was seeing her when she was first born. It was like an angel.”
While she continues to adjust to her new normal, Michelle told WLKY her focus will be on healing, not blaming.
“My intention is to support them both through this and try to navigate and help them both just wrap it up so that we can all heal, and hopefully, there’s just apologies and we can start healing,” Michelle said.
The father and daughter met each other on Joe’s front porch for a hug. Police eventually found Debra, too, and placed her under arrest.
Joe said that the last time he heard from Debra was in 1986. People who knew her suspected she had died from a drug overdose, according to reports, which didn’t turn out to be the case
