Woman charged with kidnapping

Date published: 8/16/2007

BY KEITH EPPS

A Fredericksburg woman was arrested yesterday on charges that she took a friend's infant out of town without permission, police said.

Caroline M. Zirkle, 20, was charged with kidnapping. She was arrested after she showed up at her grandmother's home in Stafford about 4:40 p.m., city police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said.

She had been to Virginia Beach, Bledsoe said, where police say she went to her ex-boyfriend's home and told him that the 2-month-old boy was her son and that he was the father. The purpose of that falsehood wasn't immediately clear.

According to Bledsoe, the baby's mother left the baby with Zirkle Tuesday for an overnight stay. The mother and Zirkle are friends and about the same age.

When the mother went to pick up the baby at noon yesterday, Zirkle and the baby were gone. The mother called Zirkle on her cell phone and was told that she was on the way back from Caroline County with the child, Bledsoe said. She hadn't said anything to the mother about taking the child anywhere, police said.

The mother called police after 90 more minutes passed and Zirkle hadn't returned. Police learned about the trip to Virginia Beach and enlisted the help of one of Zirkle's relatives in getting the child back safely.

Bledsoe said city police thought about issuing an Amber Alert, which would have meant that information about the baby's disappearance would have been broadcast nationwide. But police decided not to because they were already in indirect contact with Zirkle and feared that she might be discouraged from returning to the area if she learned that police were looking for her.

She was arrested without incident when she arrived in Stafford and was placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond. The baby appeared fine, Bledsoe said, but the mother took him to Mary Washington Hospital to be checked out.

Zirkle had legal troubles in Fredericksburg even before yesterday. She is scheduled to be in Fredericksburg Circuit Court tomorrow for a trial on a charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle.

Date published: 8/16/2007

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