MOBILE Ala. (WPMI) The mother of a daycare worker who allegedly kidnapped two children and brought them along for a shoplifting spree in Mississippi claims the charges against her daughter are “lies.”
Local 15 caught up with Kristina Price’s mother at her house on Norton’s Lane of Navco Road, where investigators allege “Kristina’s Kastle” Daycare operates out of.
“It’s the biggest lie ever been told,” Price’s mother, who would not disclose her name, told reporters, “The Sheriff’s Office fittin’ to get sued.”
Price and another woman, Erica Rudolph, are accused of kidnapping two toddlers, aged 3 and 4, from the daycare and bringing them to Gautier where they allegedly shoplifted clothing from multiple retail stores. The children and both women were caught on security cameras. They were pulled over for speeding on I-10 heading back from Mississippi, with the children and a large stash of stolen clothing inside the car.
The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office is investigating if and how the children were used to help shoplift.
“Y’all blown it up to kidnapping,” Price’s mom said to reporters, “No kids have been kidnapped. No parents have filed no charges.”
But investigators said the parents of the children, who were not related to the two women, did not give them permission to take their children.
“The parents were very shaken and upset about the matter,” Lt. Paul Burch of the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office said, “They still can’t comprehend how someone could take their children from the daycare without their permission.”
Price’s mother claimed her daughter is old friends with Rudolph from school, and she did not know Rudolph was shoplifting at the stores.
“You don’t put innocent people in [jail] ‘cause you tryin’ to catch someone else in somethin’, okay?” Price’s mother said.
Price’s mother would not answer direct questions about whether or not a daycare operates out of her house, if she runs the daycare, and why children were taken across state lines without parental consent.
Burch said the FBI is getting involved in the investigation because the children were taken across state lines.
