New Mexico couple in custody following non-custodial abduction
May 20—A New Mexico man and woman were taken into custody Friday after the two non-custodial parents took three children from a home in rural Pittsburg County. A third person was also arrested Friday for aiding the couple.
Alexandria Aranda, 36, and Mosies Aranda, 33, were each being held Friday in the Pittsburg County Jail on a complaint of child abduction.
Moises Aranda was also being held on complaints of domestic assault and battery and resisting arrest.
Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris said his office requested an Amber Alert be issued Friday morning after the couple "strong-armed" a family member who had custody of their three children and took them from a residence on Daisy Road around 7:30 a.m.
"They were doing a safety plan and they just came back and got them," Morris said.
The sheriff said child welfare offices in both New Mexico and Oklahoma were involved with the family. Allegations against the parents who lost custody of their children were not known due to state privacy laws.
Morris said the couple lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico and they were likely on their way back to New Mexico with the children when the Amber Alert was issued around 9 a.m. Friday morning.
Soon after the alert was issued, Moises Aranda was found hiding at a residence in Kiowa and would not disclose the location of the mother and the children.
Morris said investigators then began a "full all-out search" for the children and the mother in the Kiowa area.
Just before noon Friday, the children, 10-month-old Zamirah Aranda, 8-year-old Raziel Aranda, and 10-year-old Areli Aranda, were found safe at a Kiowa residence along with the mother who was hiding in the residence.
According to Pittsburg County Undersheriff Frankie McClendon, Rachel Powell, of Kiowa, was booked into the Pittsburg County Jail on a complaint of harboring a fugitive for helping hide the couple at the residence.
District 18 District Attorney Chuck Sullivan said his office will view the report.
"I will carefully review the report, and if charges are warranted, we will file them," Sullivan said.
Contact Derrick James at djames@mcalesternews.com
