CAMDENTON, Mo. – Deputies from the Camden County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Marshals Service rescued two children last week and arrested a man and woman from Pensacola, Florida, as part of a child abuse investigation.
According to Sgt. Scott Hines, a sheriff’s office spokesman, the U.S. Marshals contacted the sheriff’s office on the morning of April 12 to request help in making an arrest and rescue.
In March, a judge in Escambia County, Florida, signed an order to take two children into custody after the Florida Department of Children and Families determined they were living in unsafe and abusive conditions.
The Florida DCF investigation found the children had been inhumanely restrained and that methamphetamine was being made in the home where the family had been squatting.
Before local law enforcement could enforce the judge’s order, Nikolas A. Harris and Helen E. Harris fled with the children.
Investigators claim the couple fled across several states and then to Springfield and Branson before settling in Osage Beach.
Deputies and marshals went to the home on Channel Buoy Drive, where they arrested the adults and rescued the children. The deputies also discovered methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia at the residence.
The Camden County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged both Nikolas, 38, and Helen Harris, 33, with possession of a controlled substance and two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. They’re being held without bond.
The child are in the custody of the Missouri Children’s Division. They will eventually be moved to a safe place in an undisclosed location.
