A woman has been charged with kidnapping after police say she took her four daughters from their father’s home in South Jordan and then drove to California, prompting an Amber Alert that was issued in Utah early Sunday.
Allison Brimhall, 39, who had been granted supervised visits with her children in June, was charged Monday with four counts of child kidnapping, a first-degree felony. The four girls, ranging in age from 9 to 12, were found safe with Brimhall on Sunday at a house near San Diego, where police said she was believed to have been living. The girls’ father, Kevin Brimhall, has temporary full custody of the children.
In June, when the four girls were placed with their father, a caseworker with the Division of Child and Family Services said Allison Brimhall had made comments about harming her daughters in the past. “If I can’t have my girls, I will drive off a cliff with them in the car,” Brimhall said, according to the caseworker’s statement, charging documents state.
On Saturday around 9 a.m., Kevin Brimhall had told his daughters that he was going back to bed because he didn’t feel well, according to court documents. When a knock on the front door woke him up around 11:45 a.m., Brimhall discovered his daughters were not in the house, and noticed that they had left without putting on their winter coats and boots.
Outside, he found bare footprints in the snow, heading away from his home.
Officers said an initial report was filed at 3 p.m. Saturday by Kevin Brimhall. He told police that the girls had been missing since 10:45 a.m. but that he had initially tried to track them down himself.
The state has requested that Allison Brimhall, who is currently in jail in California, be held without bail until further notice, arguing that she is a danger to others and is likely to flee if released. The Division of Child and Family Services said it has “serious concerns” about Brimhall’s mental stability.
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