Amber Alert Girls Found, Mom in Custody
By Suzie Schottelkotte
THE LEDGER
December 30, 2009
LAKE WALES | Police said they have arrested the 26-year-old mother of two Lake Wales girls who were abducted from their father during an armed home invasion Wednesday morning.
The girls were recovered unharmed, said Lake Wales Police Chief Herb Gillis.
Candice Dionne Wright and her companion, Saedaddus Abdus-Samad, 33, were taken into custody in Orlando on Wednesday afternoon, Gillis said.
Wright and Abdul-Samad were arrested by Lake Wales police officers and agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Between 9:30 and 10 a.m., Wright, along with Abdul-Samad and an unidentified man, broke the door down at the Towerpoint Apartments in Lake Wales where Major Plain, the father of the girls, lives. They took 4-year-old Alaysha Plain and her sister, Kayahra Plain, 5, police said.
One man was armed with a knife, and the other with a handgun, authorities said.
Gillis said authorities issued an Amber Alert about 1 p.m. Wednesday.
“The mother and the men were living in Apopka,” he said.
Gillis said there is no court-ordered custody of the children and both parents share joint custody.
“From all indications, there is no issue with the father having the children with him at this time,” he said.
Gillis said officers were called to the father's apartment for a custody-related disturbance earlier this year, but he didn't have details of that incident.
Calls to the Police Department from media and citizens on Wednesday caused the city's phone system to crash for about half an hour at 4 p.m. Wednesday, and calls were diverted directly to the Sheriff's Office.
have details of that incident.
Police have identified Saedaddus Abdus-Samad, 33, as one of the men with Wright. The second man remains unidentified, Gillis said.
They were last seen in a maroon four-door 2004 Pontiac Grand Am, with a Florida tag number, I74-8BB.
Gillis said he's brought the Polk County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement into the investigation. Anyone with information should contact the Sheriff's Office at 533-0344 or call 911.
Alaysha is described as 3 feet tall and 35 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing cream-colored pants and a shirt of unknown description. Her sister is 3 feet tall and 45 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
Wright is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs 135 pounds. Abdus-Samad is described as 6 feet tall and weighing 180 pounds.
Gillis said authorities are working several tips now, with more coming in. Calls to the Police Department from media and citizens caused the city's phone system to crash for about half an hour at 4 p.m. Wednesday, and calls were diverted directly to the Sheriff's Office.
http://www.theledger.com/article/20091230/NEWS/912309979/1410?Title=Amber-Alert-Issued-For-Little-Sisters