• Officials: 'Anti-government' couple may be at sea with kidnapped children

    Authorities are searching the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday for a 25-foot sailboat. Onboard is a father who police say has kidnapped his two young sons and may have fled to the open waters. NBC's Charles Hadlock reports.

    By Ian Johnston and Matthew DeLuca, NBC News

    An “anti-government” man alleged to have kidnapped his two young sons from their grandmother’s house may be trying to escape in a sailboat, according to officials.

    Police say that Joshua Hakken, 35, apparently broke into his mother-in-law’s Tampa home after 6 a.m. on Wednesday, tied up his mother-in-law and then fled with the boys, Cole, 4, and Chase, 2.

    Cole Hakken, 4, left, and his two-year-old brother, Chase.

    The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said that Joshua Hakken and his wife Sharyn, 34, may be traveling together in a 25-foot, 1972 Morgan sailboat, NBCMiami.com reported Friday.

    The vessel is blue and has the name “salty” with a picture of a paw near the back of the hull on each side. It has a white sail with blue trim and its registration number is FL3717BK, the FDLE added.

    The United States Coast Guard scoured a swath of sea spreading from Key West to Mobile, Ala. with helicopters and boats on Saturday in an ongoing search, said Petty Officer First Class Crystalynn Kneen, a USCG spokeswoman in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Coast Guard issued an “urgent marine information broadcast” on Friday, Kneen said.

    Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office told NBC station WLFA.com that Hakken had recently bought the boat.

    Deputies told the station a witness saw the boat going under the Johns Pass bridge a couple of hours after the abduction Wednesday.

    "We've said all along, making irrational decisions doesn't always make you unintelligent. We know he's a very intelligent individual. He's an engineer," Hillsborough County Sheriffs spokesperson, Larry McKinnon, told WFLA.com.

    "Wouldn't put it past them to be able to pull into one of these coves or one of these inlets and then board a vehicle. So we're not gonna eliminate our land search, we're still maintaining the Amber alert. We're now expanding it into the Gulf of Mexico, " McKinnon said.

    "Hopefully, we're going to find them soon. As we've mentioned before, our goal is to reach out to them in a peaceful manner and to allow them to open an exchange of communication and dialogue so we can get this resolved without anyone getting hurt. "

    Craig Johnson, an experience boater and volunteer search and rescue participant, said, "If I was him, he's probably heading towards Cancun or Cuba. If he's going to Cuba, he's gotta go around Key West. That wouldn't be too smart."

    In a previous release, the sheriff’s department said that "both suspects are anti-government and have attempted a previous abduction at gun point in Louisiana.” 

    Joshua Hakken was arrested in St. Tammany Parish, La. on June 17, 2012 after attending an “anti-government rally,” the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s department said in a press release. He was charged with the unlawful sale of narcotics in the presence of minors and possession of marijuana and spent one day in jail before making bond, said Officer Ben Sciambra of the Slidell city jail.

    The couple was acting “in a bizarre manner that alarmed officers” during the arrest, according to press release issued by the Slidell Police Department on April 4. With both children present, the couple told officers that they were “completing their ultimate journey” and planned to “take a journey to the Armageddon,” according to the release.

    The Louisiana Office of Child Services determined that the two young children needed to be placed in foster care after the arrest, according to the Slidell Police Department release. Officers also took several weapons at the time of the arrest.

    NBC News' Craig Giammona contributed to this report.

    Tampa Bay news, weather forecast, radar, and sports from

    Related:

    Pickup found in suspected Florida double kidnapping

     Authorities: Man kidnaps his 2 young sons in Fla.

     Amber alert issued for Tampa siblings


    This story was originally published on Sat Apr 6, 2013 8:29 AM EDT

  • College student accused of sexually abusing, kidnapping wife

    West Goshen Township Police

    Lirim Rufati, 24, was arrested after police said he physically and sexually abused his wife over a year and then kidnapped her in an attempt to force her to leave the country.

    By David Chang, NBC10

    A Pennsylvania college student was arrested after police said he physically and sexually abused his wife for a year and then kidnapped her in an attempt to force her to leave the country.


    Police said the investigation began after the victim’s friend called 911 and claimed Lirim Rufati, 24, of West Chester, had kidnapped his wife and taken her to JFK airport in New York.

    The caller claimed the woman was being forced to leave the country against her will by her husband and father-in-law.

    Police said she was found by a Port Authority police officer as she was about to be placed on a flight to the Republic of Macedonia.

    Investigators said the woman is a Macedonian citizen who married Rufati, an American, through an arranged marriage in Macedonia.

    The woman told Port Authority police in customs she did not want to leave the United States.

    Read more stories at NBC10

    She also told West Goshen detectives that Rufati took her from her apartment in West Goshen, drove her to New York and ordered her to board the plane to Macedonia as "punishment."

    Police said that the woman accused Rufati of physically and sexually abusing her over a period of roughly one year while the two lived together in West Goshen.

    Rufati was arrested and charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, rape, simple assault and other offenses.

    He was arraigned with bail set at $250,000 cash. He was transported to Chester County Prison after failing to post bail.

    Police also said Rufati is a student at West Chester University.

  • One of FBI's 10 most-wanted fugitives captured in Mexico

    View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    One of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives was arrested in Mexico and returned to Los Angeles Friday night to face charges of murder, kidnapping and rape, U.S. officials said.

    Reputed Los Angeles gang member Joe Luis Saenz was taken into custody in Guadalajara late Thursday following a joint operation with the Mexican government, Bill Lewis, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office, said.


    Investigators said Saenz shot and killed two rival gang members in July 1998 to retaliate for an assault on one of his associates.

    Saenz suspected Sigrieta Hernandez, his girlfriend and the mother of his daughter, was going to tell police about the slayings, investigators said.

    He is accused of kidnapping, raping and killing her less than two weeks later.

    Videotape murder
    Saenz also is believed to have killed Oscar Torres at his home in suburban Whittier in October 2008 because he failed to repay $600,000 in drug money after police seized the cash during a traffic stop.

    Authorities said they have videotape from a surveillance camera at Torres' house that shows Saenz killing Torres and wounding another person.

    Saenz was still listed on the FBI’s most-wanted list early Saturday, but with a red caption on his photograph reading “CAPTURED.”

    Born in Los Angeles, Saenz was known to travel between the United States and Mexico.

    Saenz, who is about 37 years old, was believed to be hiding in Mexico, working as an enforcer and hit man for a Mexican drug cartel.

    He had a number of aliases including Zapp, Peanut Joe Smiley and Honeycutt, it added.

    Saenz had been on the FBI's most-wanted list since 2009, putting him among the ranks of Osama bin Laden, Boston crime lord James "Whitey" Bulger and other notorious criminals.

    There was a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest.

    The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC's Ian Johnston contributed to this report.

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  • Man kidnapped at Dallas ATM, handcuffed, then dumped in field, police say

    By Ellen Goldberg, NBCDFW.com

    View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com

    Texas police are looking for four robbers who they say kidnapped a man at gunpoint from a Dallas ATM.


    It happened early Tuesday morning at a Bank of America on Cedar Springs Road.

    Rudolph Dinwiddie, 43, of Grapevine, Texas, told police he was withdrawing cash from the ATM at about midnight when the robbers approached him and took his wallet and keys at gunpoint.

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    Dinwiddie told police they forced him into the back of his car, where he was bound with handcuffs, duct tape and zip ties. He forced to withdraw money from several ATMs in Dallas and Irving.

    He was then dumped in an empty Irving field, his hands and feet still bound with duct tape. A passer-by spotted him and called police.

    See the original report  |  More from NBCDFW.com

    Dallas police said it appears to be an isolated case.

    Merchants in the popular Cedar Springs Entertainment District said they were were stunned by the crime. They recently hired private security to patrol and said they thought their crime problems were improving.

    "We always would like more police presence in the area, but I don't know what can be done, because these things continue to happen," said Jeff Wright, of the Cedar Springs Merchants Association.

    Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com

    Dinwiddie was treated for cuts on his wrists at an Irving hospital. Dallas police said they are still investigating the case and working with Bank of America to get surveillance video.

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  • Woman who snatched newborn from hospital sentenced to 12 years in prison

    THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

    This May 24, 2010, file photo provided by the Wake County (N.C.) Bureau of Identification shows Ann Pettway, who snatched a newborn baby from a New York hospital more than two decades ago.

    By NBCNewYork.com

    Updated 4:35 p.m. ET: A woman who snatched a newborn baby from a New York City hospital more than two decades ago and raised her as her own was sentenced in a Manhattan federal courtroom to 12 years in prison Monday.


    Ann Pettway, 51, received less than the life sentence she was facing and the 23 years the mother of the kidnapped girl requested.

    White’s father, Carl Tyson, expressed his disappointment, saying, “I’m not really satisfied with the sentencing.” He added that Pettway “put a scar on me.”

    Pettway pleaded guilty to a kidnapping charge in February.

    For more, visit NBCNewYork.com

    During her court appearance then, she offered few details of the 1987 kidnapping. She said she took a train from her Connecticut home to Harlem Hospital, where she scooped up 3-week-old Carlina White, who had been brought to the emergency room by her parents.

    "I went to the hospital. I took a child. It was wrong," she told the court.

    But she offered no explanation for her action.

    As part of Pettway's plea bargain, prosecutors recommended that she be sentenced to between 10 and 12½ years in prison. 

    Carlina's birth mother, Joy White, wept during the February proceedings. "I've lost 23 years of being with my daughter," she said, adding that those decades were filled with pain and heartache.

    White said she encountered Pettway at the hospital on the day her daughter disappeared, dressed like a nurse. "She came up to me and said to me, 'Don't cry. Your daughter is going to be OK.'"

    The case was solved by Carlina herself.

    Woman pleads guilty in 1987 newborn kidnapping case

    As she grew up in Connecticut under another name, the girl became increasingly suspicious of her own identity. Pettway told her she had been given away by a drug addict.

    Carlina White said she browsed the website of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for clues to her identity. After matching a photo of herself with one on the site, she tracked down her true mother and they reunited in January of 2011. A DNA test confirmed they were mother and child.

    Today, they speak every day, Joy White said.

    "I love my daughter. She's a beautiful girl," she said, adding that she had kept a picture of her missing baby at her bedside for 23 years.      

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  • Cops: 2 held after boy is snatched from hospital while awaiting heart transplant

    NCMEC

    Porter Stone, above, was located early Wednesday near Alsip, Illinois, police told KDSK.

    By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services

    Updated at 5:51 a.m. ET: A boy who was allegedly kidnapped from a St. Louis hospital while awaiting a heart transplant was located near Chicago early Wednesday, NBC News reported. His father and grandmother were taken into custody.


    According to KSDK, the Illinois State Police found 5-year-old Porter Stone, his father Jeffrey Stone and grandmother Rhonda Marie Mathews in Alsip, Illinois. Felony warrants were issued for kidnapping, interfering with custody and endangering the welfare of a child.

    KSDK reported that Porter Stone appeared to be fine but was being taken to a hospital for an evaluation.

    Officials said the child had vanished after being discharged from St. Louis Children's Hospital on Tuesday. Porter Stone's parents reportedly have been involved in a custody dispute.

    Porter Stone was reported missing from St. Louis Children's Hospital at 4:20 p.m. local time (5:20 p.m. ET) after his father called the boy's mother to tell her "he was taking his son," said officer Sherri Bruns of the St. Louis Police Department.

    "After the discharge, the father took the child to the pharmacy and the mother went to get the car. The mother then reported that the father never came to the car," Dr. Sessions Cole of St. Louis Children's Hospital told KSDK.

    Local TV station KSDK reported that the boy's mother has legal custody of the boy, according to relatives.

    "I believe it's to try and hurt my sister, to try and take control of the situation since he has no custody of the children," Ian Fife, the boy's maternal uncle, told KSDK.

    NCMEC

    Jeffrey Stone, above, has been taken into custody.

    'Next on the list'
    The boy was carrying a backpack with a medical intravenous pump and medication that will last 48 hours, Bruns said. He was at the hospital awaiting a transplant, she said, adding, "He is next on the list."

    Doctors say Porter's condition, which KSDK reported was cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease, will worsen without proper care and a supply of medication. The station said the boy's intravenous pump would only last 24 hours.

    NBC Bay Area, msnbc.com staff and Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • NBC: 2 Americans kidnapped in Egypt released, police say

    Two Americans who were taken hostage in Egypt have been released. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.

     

    By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services

    Updated at 1:03 p.m. ET: CAIRO -- NBC's Charlene Gubash reports the three former hostages, including two American women, were released to military officials and not police because police are mistrusted by the Egyptian Bedouin tribesmen.

    The Governor of South Sinai has also invited the Americans for dinner, Gubash reports. Their itinerary includes Sharm, Cairo to visit pyramids and Alexandria.

    Updated at 10:37 a.m. ET:  CAIRO -- South Sinai Police Chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Naguib tells The Associated Press that he has sent a car to pick up the kidnapping Americans after the deal was made following negotiations with Egyptian Bedouin tribesmen.

     

    The two American women and one guide were seized Friday from a minivan that was returning them from the monastery to the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.  Naguib said earlier the kidnappers wanted the release of fellow tribesmen who were arrested but he isn't releasing details about the negotiations.

    NBC's Charlene Gubash says the tourists were on a tour with Seed-Faith Foundation, described online as faith-based travel. 

    Updated at 10:46 a.m. ET: Two American tourists kidnapped in Egypt on Friday have been released, local police tell NBC News.

    Updated at 10 a.m. ET: Egyptian generals are negotiating with Bedouin tribesmen thought to have kidnapped two Americans and their guides near a popular Red Sea resort on Friday, NBC News' Charlene Gubash reports from Cairo.

    Thousands of people poured into Cairo's Tahrir Square, where tear gas was used to disperse the crowd. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    The kidnappers are demanding the release of of 33 Bedouins detained last week, she says, adding that Egyptian police now know the whereabouts of the hostages.

    Updated at 9:10 a.m. ET: The U.S. State Department said it was working to confirm the citizenship of the two tourists who were kidnapped along with their guide in Egypt on Friday.

     

    The U.S. Embassy in Cairo released the following statement to NBC News:

    "Egyptian authorities have confirmed to us that two tourists, who they say are American citizens, have been kidnapped in Sinai. We are trying to confirm their citizenship and in the meantime are working closely with the Egyptian authorities to do everything possible to ensure the tourists' safety."

    Updated at 7:10 a.m. ET: Two American tourists and their guide have been kidnapped near a popular Red Sea resort in Egypt, South Sinai's chief of police confirmed to NBC News Friday.

    Egypt protesters besiege Cairo ministry

    The news came just days after Bedouin tribesmen released about two dozen Chinese cement factory workers taken hostage in the country last week.

    Egypt has faced deteriorating security and a surge in crime since the popular uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak nearly a year
    ago. Protesters accuse the military council that has assumed power and the police force of negligence.

    On Friday, the military and police officials told The Associated Press that abductors sped away in a sedan and a pickup truck after taking the Americans, leaving behind three other people who had been in the minivan. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, did not know the nationalities of those left behind.

    The group had been traveling between St. Catherine's Monastery to the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

    Authorities said a search was under way.

    Chinese abducted
    On Saturday, 29 Chinese workers were captured by rebels in the Sudanese border state of South Kordofan. The 25 workers freed on Wednesday were in good condition, China's Xinhua news agency said, citing an embassy official there, Ma Jianchun.

    Analysis: Egyptians share blame in soccer tragedy

    Residents of Sinai say they are neglected by the central government in Cairo, and periodically attack police stations and block access to towns, villages and industrial sites to show their discontent.

    The isolated desert region has become more lawless since an uprising ousted president Hosni Mubarak a year ago and threw the security apparatus into disarray.

    Original post: Two American tourists in Egypt have been kidnapped, South Sinai's chief of police confirmed to NBC News on Friday.

    Five tourists were on their way from St. Catherine's Monastery to the very popular Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, the police told NBC News. He added that Bedouin tribesmen took two and an Egyptian guide and let the remaining three go with the car.

    The two are most likely being held to exchange for release of prisoners and land the Bedouin tribe want, NBC reported. They may have also been kidnapped in revenge for a recent crackdown by police.

    NBC News, msnbc.com staff, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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