Kidnapped toddler found safe in Palatka

A Sunrise woman was arrested Monday morning in Palatka after kidnapping her then-2-year-old daughter a year ago and disappearing even though she did not have custody of the girl, according to the FBI.

FBI spokesman Jim Marshall said Megan Everett, 23, was taken into custody without incident Monday morning in Palatka, about 30 miles southwest of St. Augustine.

Lilly Abigail Baumann was kidnapped in May 2014 by her mother, Megan Elizabeth Everett, in Sunrise, Florida, authorities said. “But I had to leave”, she stated.

Through the intervention of Everett’s mother, Pam, Baumann was able to be present for Lilly’s birth and to spend time with his daughter, once or twice a week, for the first couple of years of her life. The child was featured Sunday night on the TV show “The Hunt” hosted by John Walsh on CNN. Everett was booked into the Putnam County jail on the outstanding warrants, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Baumann told Local 10 in a telephone interview that he was on his way to Palatka.

Yikes. Baumann also explained to the Sun Sentinel that Everett was concerned about the education her daughter would receive outside of the home, that, in fact, it would be too racially inclusive.

“Dear C, If I let them take her and vaccinate her and brainwash her, I wouldn’t be doing what’s right”.

The woman notified CNN, which then contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We will miss you. Authorities told her Monday that her daughter “still had an attitude” and was refusing to speak with them until she had hired a lawyer, she said.

But only six weeks into this new arrangement, Everett and Lilly were gone. “It is a relief, but I have mixed feelings”.

Everett consistently said she thought her granddaughter would be better off with her father, Baumann. How am I supposed to find her?

“I don’t see her playing with toys in any picture. Children bounce back and they handle things better than adults sometimes, so I hope she is going be just fine”.