Mom Stages Twisted Kidnap Plot to Save Disabled Daughter from "Luke Bryan"| Crime Alert 7PM 12.05.2025

An Arkansas mom is behind bars, facing a battery & kidnap rap - for abducting her daughter in a plot to save her from "Luke Bryan." Three other co-conspirators were also cuffed. 

Abduction or Escaping Abuse: A 12-year-old girl is accused of kidnapping her tot bro, at gunpoint, triggering a manhunt & a custody war. Plus, when a battering ram betrays the badge... Jennifer Gould reports. 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alart, hourly update, Breaking crime news Now.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm Jennifer Gould.

Speaker 1 (00:05):
In a truly shocking act of desperation, an Arkansas mom
orchestrated a brutal, horror movie style kidnapping against her own
developmentally disabled daughter, ordering her tied to a tree in
a remote field with industrial strength zip ties. Tamra Tammy

(00:27):
Hamby fifty nine, the wife of a respected Van Buren physician,
confessed to setting up the traumatic ruse to violently shatter
her twenty two year old daughter, Jamie's six month long
delusion that she was secretly dating country music superstar Luke Bryan.
Doctor Jeffrey Hanby told five News his wife's move was

(00:50):
just an ill conceived, desperate reaction to a system that
offered no help against an overseas perpetrator.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
We're trying to teach that there are people who will
hurt her, and instead of us helping us, they arrest
my wife.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
The horrifying spectacle, the doc says, was intended as a
life lesson, a chilling simulation designed to terrify Jamie, who
court records described as mentally disabled and lacking any concept
of evil. Out of the grip of a relentless Nigerian

(01:29):
cyber predator who was pretending to be Luke Bryan. The
predator had exploited Jamie for months, convincing her to send cash,
instructing her to perform sexually provocative acts on camera, and
engaging her in detailed conversations about meeting her fictitious fionce.

(01:50):
Using her daughter's own in home certified nursing assistant, Shannon
Childress forty one, along with two local acquaintances, Tammy had
Jams willingly lured into a vehicle under the pretense of
a celebrity meet up. Once inside, the crew blindfolded the
vulnerable young woman, brutally sinsed her wrists with zip ties,

(02:14):
and drove her miles away. After a logistical mishap delayed
the staged rescue, Tammy finally arrived to quote unquote save
her only after Jamie had been bruised from the restraints
used during the harrowing confinement.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
The plot ben imploded immediately.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Jamie's visible injuries forced a welfare check, which instantly exposed
the conspiracy. All four adults, Tammy Childers, David Quack, and
Nico Austria, turned themselves in on December third, now facing
serious felony charges, including conspiracy to commit false imprisonment and battery.

(02:56):
Court records show Tammy's bond said at one hundred and
twenty five one thousand dollars, while the three co defendants
each received twenty five thousand dollars bonds. State investigators confirmed
doctor Hanby is not facing criminal charges, concluding he did
not even know about the kidnapping plan until after it happened.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
However, the State of.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Arkansas they saw only abuse, placing Jamie in protective custody
and filing an emergency petition to seize permanent custody, stating
that the act proved the family could not keep her
safe from risk, including potential retaliation from that predator who
is still operating in Nigeria.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Jeffrey, however, vows.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
To vite the criminal charges and custody battle, pledging to
spend quote every dime. I've got to get my wife
and daughter back end quote. More crime and justice news.
After this, a desperate middle of the night custody battle
exploded loaded onto the streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, launching a

(04:03):
terrifying multi agency manhunt for a twelve year old girl
accused of a brazen armed abduction. The shocking search centered
on Shania Wooton Powell, who vanished with her four year
old brother, Nevin Powell after their guardian reported a chaotic confrontation.

(04:25):
This critical missing person alert was instantly fraught with danger.
Police were already seeking Shanaia on a felony warrant for
alleged battery to an officer, and authorities had described the
preteen as potentially armed and dangerous. The children's guardian of
two years, only known as Dominica, detailed a terrifying secrets

(04:48):
of events to investigators and to WISN TV twelve.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
So now you came in there waving a gun at them,
with a gun, point a gun at them, and she snatched.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
Neving up out the bed in left at the house
with Nevinue. Initial reports tracked the siblings walking southbound on
North fifth Street, but the alarm escalated when police shifted
the focus to a light blue Hyundai Santa Fe with
no license plates. The narrative of armed kidnapping was fiercely
contradicted as well by the children's fractured family and Latanya

(05:23):
McKinney vehemently asserted that the guardian's account was a complete fabrication,
a quote amber alert lie end quote designed to deflect blame.
McKinney argued that Shanaia, who she maintained was not armed,
was simply carrying out a desperate act of sibling loyalty,
a rescue mission of all things, to bring her little

(05:46):
brother to safety from a quote unsafe living situation end quote.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
After a grueling search that.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
Captivated the community, the Milwaukee Police Department finally found both
Nevin and Shania safe and well. While officials confirmed a
twelve year old was taken into custody and the four
year old placed into protective services, authorities would not verify
if a gun was ever recovered. The final resolution of

(06:14):
the custody dispute and the potential felony charges against the
twelve year old remained the focus of the ongoing investigation
and finally talk about a police drama, but this was
not on TV. Ex Toms River police officer Rebecca Sayeg
thirty two, is officially barred from the badge for life

(06:38):
after she traded her uniform for a baton fueled rampage
at her ex boyfriend's New Jersey home. That is definitely
a code violation if you ask me. The smash hit
unfolded when the jilted officer allegedly used her service baton
to smash through the front door of her ex's Berkeley house.

(06:58):
Once inside, fronted him and his new galpal before destroying property.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
Geeven tried to fight off the coworker.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
Cops who responded to the scene Sayeg pleaded guilty to
burglary and simple assault officially forfeiting her job, this ex
cop will now be serving time instead of serving justice.
For the latest crime and justice news, follow the Crime
Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app with this

(07:27):
crime Alert.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
I'm Jennifer Gould.