Missing Missouri Children Found Safe After Nearly a Year in Florida Supermarket

Missing Missouri Children Brooke and Adrian Gilley Non-custodial mother

By E.Baloyo , Parent Herald Feb 06, 01:20 am

Photo: (Photo : Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The missing Missouri children, Brooke and Adrian Gilley, have been safely found.

The two children were previously abducted and had been missing from Missouri for almost a year.

The police officers found the kids with their non-custodial mother in a central Florida grocery store. The children's identities were masked.

Their non-custodial mother, Kristi Gilley, 36, was arrested on an out-of-state fugitive warrant and remained in jail.

Missing Missouri children found in Florida

ABC News reported that the High Springs police officers were conducting routine checks of vehicles in the area when they came across a car that belonged to a person wanted by the authorities.

Upon investigating further, they found Gilley and the two missing children inside a Winn Dixie supermarket.

The children had been missing for almost a year, having been taken from their home in Clay County, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City.

The police department had been working hard to gather tips and information to help locate the missing children, and their efforts paid off with this discovery.

The non-custodial mother, Kristi Nicole Gilley, was taken into custody and arrested on an active kidnapping warrant that Clay County, Missouri, had issued.

There have been no further details regarding the case yet, as the court-appointed lawyer for Gilley, assigned from the local public defender's office, has yet to reply to an email request on Sunday.

Missing Missouri children's kidnapping in 2022

As previously reported by FOX 4, according to the police, Brooke and Adrian Gilley have been missing since March 15, 2022. Brooke was ten years old at the time of her disappearance, with a height of 4 feet, 8 inches, and weighing 80 pounds. She had blue eyes and blonde hair. Adrian, who was 12 years old when taken, also stood at 4 feet, 8 inches tall, and had blue eyes and blonde hair.

The Liberty, Missouri Police Department distributed current photos of the children when they went missing to spread awareness.

The authorities initially suspected the children might be with their mother, who did not have custody of them. There was also information suggesting that Brooke and Adrian Gilley may have been in California.

How can a mother lose custody of her own child?

In America, various reasons can lead to a biological mother losing custody of her children. One of the main reasons is neglect or abuse of children.

According to Leon F. Bennett, if a mother is found to be neglecting or mistreating her children in any way, such as physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, the authorities may step in and remove the children from her care.

Substance abuse, such as addiction to drugs or alcohol, can also be a reason for a loss of custody. A mother with a mental health issue that affects her ability to provide a safe and stable environment for her children may also lose custody.

Additionally, if a mother is convicted of a crime, she may be deemed unfit to care for her children and lose custody.

Finally, a court order can be issued if the court believes it is in the children's best interests to award custody to another party, such as the father or a relative.

It is important to note that the laws and procedures for determining custody vary from state to state. It is advisable to consult a legal expert for more information in a specific case.

Unfortunately, in Gilley's case, no official information is available about the circumstances that led to the biological mother losing custody of her own children.