2 Missouri Children Abducted Nearly 1 Year Ago Found In Florida

Two children who went missing from Missouri nearly a year ago were found Wednesday (February 1) in a central Florida grocery store.

Officers with the High Springs Police Department said they found the missing 12-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl at a Winn-Dixie super market. They were with their non-custodial mother, Kristi Nicole Gilley, who had "disguised their identities." The High Springs Police Department did not elaborate on what exactly that entailed.

The two kids were found when police conducted a routine vehicle tag check and discovered the vehicle's owner was a fugitive, according to a news release from the High Springs Police Department. Gilley was arrested on an out-of-state kidnapping warrant, according to the police. Court records show Gilley, 36, remained in jail yesterday.

The children were turned over to the Florida Department of Children and Families Services and will be reunited with their family members in Missouri, according to a news release from the High Springs Police Department. Authorities said the children had been missing from Clay County, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City, since March 15, 2022.

Gilley's court-appointed lawyer from the local defender's office did not immediately respond to an emailed inquiry from the Associated Press on Sunday.