An abduction case that spanned decades has finally been resolved with the arrest of a Kentucky woman who is accused of kidnapping her child, moving to Florida, then changing her identity and remarrying. According to WOFL , 66-year-old Debra Newton was arrested on Dec. 15 in front of her home in Marion County, Florida. She faces custodial interference charges for allegedly fleeing from Louisville, Kentucky, with her 3-year-old daughter, Michelle, in April 1983. Debra claimed she was relocating to Georgia for a new job, but vanished with her daughter and cut off communication with her husband and Michelle’s father, Joe Newton. Debra was indicted for custodial interference and was wanted on an FBI Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution. At one point, she made the FBI’s list for Top 8 Most Wanted parental-kidnapping fugitives. Former TV Executive Pretended to be Wealthy Heiress and Scammed California Banks Out of More Than $30 Million, FBI Says The case went cold in 2000, and Michelle was taken off the missing child database. The case was reopened in 2016 at the request of a family member, and a grand jury reindicted Newton the year after that. In 2025, detectives received a
