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Police: Teens Took Pregnant Teen For Baby
Motel Manager: Suspects Left Baby Items In Room
POSTED: 4:06 pm CDT July 31,
2007
UPDATED: 4:09 pm CDT August 1,
2007
A pregnant woman was allegedly kidnapped and terrorized, all because she wanted to buy baby clothes, investigators said.
A 19-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl sprayed the 18-year-old with pepper spray on Monday and took her to a Blue Springs, Mo., motel, where they planned to cut her baby from her womb and possibly kill her, according to authorities.
Prosecutors charged Lauren M. Gash, 19, of Odessa, Mo., and Alisa D. Betts, 17, of Atchison, Kan., with felony kidnapping.
Gash, 19, also faced one count of assault.
They were arraigned Tuesday afternoon.
The pair allegedly lured Amanda Howard, who was nine months pregnant, with an ad for baby clothes. The victim made contact with them through MySpace.
Once at the motel, Gash allegedly sat on her abdomen and twisted her neck.
Betts got cold feet, left the room and called 911, according to court documents.
Officers found scissors, an Exacto knife and a tarp in the room, police said.
"She actually put Amanda on the phone to relate to me the story, and it's just. It's absolutely terrifying," her former stepmother said. "It was good to hear her voice and to hear that she was doing well and the baby was doing well."
The baby hadn't yet been born by Tuesday afternoon.
Gash allegedly recently threw herself a baby shower and told her family she'd had a baby.
"I think that Lauren lied to us all. I'm sorry to say it that way, because I love Lauren as if she was my own kids, but something's wrong," said Melissa Betts, Alisa Betts' mother.
Gash was being held on $750,000 bond, and Betts was being held on $500,000 bond.
They were both expected in court on Aug. 22.
"The facts alleged in this case by the state are extremely disturbing," said Jim Kanatzer, the Jackson County prosecutor. "In my 15 years of prosecution, I've never seen anything like it."
A 19-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl sprayed the 18-year-old with pepper spray on Monday and took her to a Blue Springs, Mo., motel, where they planned to cut her baby from her womb and possibly kill her, according to authorities.
Prosecutors charged Lauren M. Gash, 19, of Odessa, Mo., and Alisa D. Betts, 17, of Atchison, Kan., with felony kidnapping.
Gash, 19, also faced one count of assault.
They were arraigned Tuesday afternoon.
The pair allegedly lured Amanda Howard, who was nine months pregnant, with an ad for baby clothes. The victim made contact with them through MySpace.
Once at the motel, Gash allegedly sat on her abdomen and twisted her neck.
Betts got cold feet, left the room and called 911, according to court documents.
Officers found scissors, an Exacto knife and a tarp in the room, police said.
"She actually put Amanda on the phone to relate to me the story, and it's just. It's absolutely terrifying," her former stepmother said. "It was good to hear her voice and to hear that she was doing well and the baby was doing well."
The baby hadn't yet been born by Tuesday afternoon.
Gash allegedly recently threw herself a baby shower and told her family she'd had a baby.
"I think that Lauren lied to us all. I'm sorry to say it that way, because I love Lauren as if she was my own kids, but something's wrong," said Melissa Betts, Alisa Betts' mother.
Gash was being held on $750,000 bond, and Betts was being held on $500,000 bond.
They were both expected in court on Aug. 22.
"The facts alleged in this case by the state are extremely disturbing," said Jim Kanatzer, the Jackson County prosecutor. "In my 15 years of prosecution, I've never seen anything like it."
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