Amber Alert Withdrawn, Mother Arrested After Missing Boy Was Found With Her

An Amber Alert sounded three days after 12-year-old Nicholas Johnston went missing on March 7 has been lifted after the boy was found with his mother. The Statewide alert was issued by the California Highway Patrol and notified the public about the possibility of the child being abducted by his own mother, Sri Ann Johnston, 48. The “suspect” was described asa white female, standing 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighing about 125 pounds while Nicholas was described as a white male, standing around 4 feet 8 inches tall and weighing about 80 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

The alert was lifted within 90 minutes however as the Long Beach Police tracked down the duo in Oceanside, reports the LA Times.

Sri Johnston, who does not have the custody rights of her son was charged with one count each of abducting and child custody deprivation. Sri faces up to 13 years and 8 months in prison, if she is found guilty. She was arrested at around 2:40 pm local time, a little over one and a half hours after the Amber Alert was issued at 1:20 pm. Long Beach Police Department official Nancy Pratt has revealed that Sri had abducted her own son on Thursday afternoon. A day before that, on Wednesday, the 12 year old was picked up by Sri Johnston for visitation. However, she did not return Nicholas to his father David Miller, who has the primary custody rights for the child. It was only by Thursday that Miller realized that Sri had failed to take Nicholas to school and that both have gone missing. Currently Sri is being held in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail, according to ABC.

While the police were on the lookout for the duo, Miller had to wait until Monday for an Amber Alert to be issued. According to Pratt, this happened because the case did not initially “meet the criteria” for an Amber Alert. Once “new information” regarding the alleged abduction came in, the alert was issued. David Miller on the other hand is of the opinion that the Amber Alert should have been sounded much earlier. Nancy also added that Sri Johnston was allowed the possession of the child for a very specific time frame and that Johnston was in violation of the same.

According to ABC, Sri Johnston was eventually tracked down by the California Highway Patrol who had knowledge that the woman was driving a 1998 Saturn four-door sedan with California license plate 4AUU679. The news of this Amber Alert issuance comes just days after 11-year-old Caitlyin Virts was found safe with her father Timothy Virts in a South Carolina motel.

[Image Via: Fox5Vegas]