GUILTY SC - HT, 4, Johns Island, 13 Feb 2018 *Arrest*

[NewMama]

There are a great many things I’d rather do than take a road trip with a 4 yr old. I’m not sure what to think about his intentions. On one hand it feels like drugs could fuel that type of assault. On the other hand I don’t see how he could keep a young child on the move while under the influence.
Mainly I am elated she is alive and I feel bad she may have witnessed her mother’s assault. I’m hoping we hear soon that Mom’s condition is improving and that she knows her baby is safe.

 

[Gardener1850]

[h=1]South Carolina kidnapping suspect arrested after high speed chase through Lauderdale County[/h]

[FONT=&quot]A man wanted for kidnapping a young girl and brutally beating her mother in South Carolina was arrested after a high speed chase through Lauderdale County Wednesday night, authorities said.
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Thomas Evans, 37, was being sought for allegedly kidnapping 4-year-old HT from her home on Johns Island, South Carolina on Tuesday.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Lauderdale County Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun said federal authorities asked area law enforcement to look for a vehicle they suspected had been stolen from South Carolina entering Mississippi on I-20. Federal officials also said the driver was a suspect in a kidnapping.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Around 8 p.m., a deputy near Russell spotted the vehicle and attempted to stop it, but Evans raced through the county. Officers from the Marion Police Department and Meridian Police Department followed, joined by Kemper County Sheriff's Department deputies once Evans crossed the county line, Calhoun said.
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Calhoun said Evans reached speeds close to 100 mph as the chase wound through Highway 45 and Highway 39, heading north.
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]In DeKalb, Evans turned on a side street that had a dead end, jumped out of the car and tried to run away, Calhoun said. Deputies arrested Evans without incident.
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]By 9:15 p.m. Evans was being transported to the Lauderdale County Detention Facilty for federal authorities, Calhoun said. He is expected to be charged with kidnapping.

http://www.meridianstar.com/news/lo...cle_3e69a4d6-b6a4-5aa3-9f5d-50cad5e945d7.html
[/FONT]

 

[Abp5]

The houses are brand new and in the 300,000-400,000 range. Maybe that is middle class but to a career criminal/drug addict who just got out of prison and is probably living in a half-a-way house or trailer those people are wealthy. The houses are also easier targets because of the new construction (many empty units and less likely to have cameras) AND their exact house floor plan with pictures is online.

Yep! You can pull up the inside pics of the house. I noticed that the inside steps are as soon as you enter the front door. One article stated that the neighbor found her at the bottom of the steps when she arrived to drop off the kids. I really think that he came up behind her as she was coming home. If she was attacked from behind then she may not have gotten a clear look at him. Or it may have been only a glimpse after she had already been hit in the head.

 

[LadyL]

[bbm]

yes you can

Burglary is an unlawful entry into a building or other location for the purposes of committing an offence. Usually that offence is theft, but most jurisdictions include others within the ambit of burglary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burglary

Can't call it a burglary if nothing is stolen. Guessing they are trying to determine if the motive was to take H, to beat up a woman, or some other motive. Maybe he was delusional and thought this was his ex and a kid she was hiding from him. He has an extensive drug history, who knows.

 

[flute4peace]

Unbelievable! !!!

I really hope the detectives have gone home to their families for a hearty meal and a solid night's sleep. H is safely in the arms of her Daddy & this guy isn't going anywhere. Everything will keep until morning. They deserve it!

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[morena2003]

I have wondered if the motive could have been trafficking. Initially, police released information about a Hispanic male with a flame tattoo on his face in this news story: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/heidi-todd-missing-johns-island-sc-found-today/

Then, later she was found in the car with the man that was eventually arrested, Thomas Lawton Evans. There was no mention of him as a "person of interest" or "suspect" until he was arrested. I wondered if the Hispanic man took her, then handed her off to Evans. He does seem to be a career criminal. With him being recently out of prison, maybe that was his next idea for making some money. That would explain the road trip and why she was kept alive. One article I read did say that the area where they were found was a human trafficking corridor. Possible the mom fought trying to prevent the kidnapping and that is why she was beaten. IDK, this is all just mho.​

 

[CrysBella]

The updated linked articles referred to the tattooed POI as someone seen in neighborhood recently.

MAYBE:

- Maybe that tip came from a neighbor while police were investigating and putting crime scene tape around the houses.

- Maybe that guy is an accomplice and they staked out her house, because it had no MALE occupants.

- Maybe he chose that time of day because the oldest child wouldn’t be home either.

- Maybe they didn’t expect this ‘homemaker’ to be as tough as fricken nails as she is. She wouldn’t tap out as quickly as he needed and there was no time to grab valuables.

- Maybe he took H because although only 4 - she witnessed the entire thing and can communicate. She was savvy enough to indicate that she wanted out of the car when the cop saw her.

- If they don’t know each other, this is the only scenario I can think about why he went to all the trouble ...for THAT house.

ETA: Well, that and trafficking of course. Ugh.

 

[Gardener1850]

Her accused abductor - Thomas Lawton Evans - was captured just over the Mississippi line after a brief car chase.

Riverside Police Chief Rick Oliver said he and the fire chief, Tim Kurzejeski, were notified by railroad workers of a suspicious vehicle.

They found the vehicle - a blue Chevrolet Impala - with a white male asleep behind the wheel. A little girl - later determined to be H - was awake in the passenger's seat. Oliver said he knocked on the window to wake up the man. He told him to get out of the car and escorted him away from the vehicle, he said. The man - later identified as Evans - was very nervous, he said.

H was then taken from the car. She was wearing an adult hoodie and adult pajamas, which raised Oliver's curiosity and concern.

Oliver ran the man through a national crime database after obtaining his name and social security number. He then told him he was going to take him in. The suspect, he said, asked him to hold H. He said he smelled alcohol on the man's breath.

"I knew he was going run,'' Oliver said. "I just had that feeling."

Evans jumped back into the vehicle fled on Highway 78 toward Pell City. Pell City police got on Interstate 20 and Highway 78 but couldn't not find the fleeing suspect, said Pell City Police Chief Paul Irwin. He was driving the blue sedan with an Illinois tag.

Oliver said ALEA, as well as FBI agents from Birmingham and Gadsden ,quickly responded to the scene. "We obtained information on the vehicle and tracked it to the Mississippi line,'' he said.

He said Evans told him he had just been released from prison on Feb. 1 for a robbery conviction. According to the Post-Courier, Evans' criminal history shows numerous arrests for car break-ins and substance abuse starting in 2000 that escalated to the armed robbery charge in 2009.

The suspect was then captured in Lauderdale County, Mississippi by Lauderdale and Kemper county deputies.

Read more: http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2018/02/missing_south_carolina_girl_fo.html

 

[LadyL]

that might be a misunderstanding based on the wording ... (if they had said pajamas and adult hoodie, it reads differently)

Oliver says she was clothed in an adult hoodie and pajamas.

http://abcnews4.com/news/local/heidi-todd-found-alive-outside-birmingham-alabama

She was wearing an adult hoodie & adult pajamas when she was found in the vehicle

 

[thesensitivechild]

So happy this little girl is alive. I really thought it wouldn’t be. She has a life waiting!!!!


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[Amonet]

If this was an episode of Criminal Minds....Evans would have been about 3 to 5 years old when he and his similar-aged sister witnessed their mother being brutally attacked. As an adult he's fallen into crime, and one day he is burgling a house when a woman and her three young children walk in the door as they return from the school run. A ton of adrenalin is released into his body, he's been rifling through draws looking for money, he demands money from the woman...she screams, he hits her and keeps on hitting her--she reminds him of his evil adoptive mother who adopted him after his mother died, so he's particularly violent with head and facial injuries. As the attack tapers down and his adrenalin levels fall off he can hear a small child whimpering, just like him and his sister after their mother was attacked. For reasons he doesn't even understand himself he scoops up the child and takes her with him. Starts driving, partly to escape police and partly to get away from what he's just done. Every now and then he looks over at the small crying child in the passenger seat crying for her mother and that she's cold and hungry, he takes off his grey hoody and puts it on her to keep warm, he doesn't know why he took her nor what he's going to do with her now...he can't take care of a child when he's on the run from the cops, and he doesn't even know anything about caring for a child his age, but for some reason he doesn't feel any desire to hurt her, so he keeps going. Then he stops for a sleep and a cop comes up to the car, he's actually relieved that he can now hand off the child to a responsible adult who's going to care for her...and the cop was kind enough to leave the car keys in the car so he'll make up an excuse to go back into the car (to get his documents) and drive off, finally alone.

I always wonder about those back stories in that show, they always seem too neat and tidy?

 

[LarkBunting]

I’m shocked & elated to hear that she’s alive & safe now. I pray whatever happened to her isn’t as bad as I’m sure many of us are imagining.
This is amazing.


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[Gardener1850]

that might be a misunderstanding based on the wording ... (if they had said pajamas and adult hoodie, it reads differently)

Oliver says she was clothed in an adult hoodie and pajamas.

http://abcnews4.com/news/local/heidi-todd-found-alive-outside-birmingham-alabama

He says both "adult hoodie" and "adult pajamas" in the presser. It is just after the 6 minute mark if you want to listen for yourself: https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156398793561178&id=75155261177

 

[CrysBella]

There are a great many things I’d rather do than take a road trip with a 4 yr old.

snipped by me for emphasis

:laughing:LMAO. Thank you for this gem, ‘New Mama’.

‘’Although the situation isn’t funny, that comment caught me off guard and I roared. Laughed so loud and suddenly that the dog jumped.

I needed this tiny tiny bit of levity. Everything is so tense in the world. It’s good that we can come together and brainstorm and share thoughts. My eyes get opened daily.

Side Note: No matter what the scenario, I’m EXCITED for the inmates to hear SP took a little girl. Hopefully many of them might assume the worst. Our judicial decision will no longer matter — since the inmates will take it from there. Not to be callous or cruel about SP’s fate, but if you take/touch children, it’s the least we can do to help karma...do its thing. *ahem*

 

[Gardener1850]

Here's a brief video of H being carried out of the station after she had been found: https://www.facebook.com/abc3340/videos/vb.75155261177/10156398650386178/?type=2&theater

You can see the adult sized clothes she was wearing when found by the police chief in Alabama. The first time I saw this video I thought she was wrapped up in a blanket but if you look closely (and pause it) you can tell it's an adult size hoodie and adult size pajama pants.

 

[wantjustice]

If this precious child wasn't harmed in anyway except stealing and witnessing her mom's harm, I will see this as a drug-addled tantrum. The addicts here take everything, and I mean everything, they can get their hands on for their next hit. Dogs aren't safe, veggies from the garden aren't safe and they can have a bad attitude if thwarted. I wonder if he wanted cash, didn't want to take things to sell, saw a mom with kids, hoped for cash, didn't get it and beat mom taking baby with him as payback. It doesn't appear well thought of and he was snoozing in a parking lot with her. Just bizarre. Would rather this than any harm to this precious little one.

 

[LadyL]

looks like an adult size hoodie and child size pants to me - the pants are the right length for her

Here's a brief video of H being carried out of the station after she had been found: https://www.facebook.com/abc3340/videos/vb.75155261177/10156398650386178/?type=2&theater

You can see the adult sized clothes she was wearing when found by the police chief in Alabama. The first time I saw this video I thought she was wrapped up in a blanket but if you look closely (and pause it) you can tell it's an adult size hoodie and adult size pajama pants.

 

[MsFacetious]

I don't know why people are saying it doesn't make sense to take H.The whole thing doesn't make sense.

If this had been well planned it would have been in the middle of the night, regardless of the motive. Clearly it wasn't well planned. After spending several years in prison he probably got out and immediately got high. A lot has changed in those years and who knows what he obtained or how it impacted him.

We have seen a single perp contain, control and kill multiple victims before. This is actually a much better outcome than we've often seen. Everyone survived it, which is wonderful.

A great example is the murders of Savvas Savopoulos, Amy Savopoulos, Philip Savopolous and Vera Figueroa. The killer was in the home almost 24 hours. Entering and leaving during the day. He ended up killing all 4 of them (3 adults and a child) and setting the house on fire. Similar to the Petit family murders (though that was 2 perps.)

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...int-accused-killing-savopoulos-family-n363331

It is not hard for me to see how this occurred exactly the way it appears. Mom ambushed with 3 young kids and nearly beaten to death protecting her kids. We are lucky that the 2 year old didn't wander away and that the baby was found the same day. This could have been an absolute tragedy with several deaths.

Whether he was on drugs, or delusional, or just angry. I am grateful it didn't turn out like Riley Fox. I am grateful he didn't kill her. I don't know WHY he took her. Just not knowing what to do because she could alert someone and yet being unable to kill her does make the most sense to me. I will be interested to see his tox screen and hear his story. Because it doesn't fit the pattern of other crimes, I'm intrigued as to what he will say.

 

[LadyL]

that one worked thanks
yep he definitely said adult hoodie and adult pyjamas

I really wish it wasn't so because that possibly implies something that I don't want to think about

Really? Maybe I linked the wrong thing. It's a 16 minute+ video. Try this mobile link: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156398793561178&id=75155261177

 

[fraudqueen]

I'm so thankful she was rescued.