Child safe, woman in custody after Tri-Cities infant abducted in Spokane

A 6-month-old baby from the Tri-Cities was apparently separated from her mother and kidnapped Thursday, according to Spokane police. Police successfully located the child and the suspect Friday morning.

Fern Littlecalf, who police said used an extensive online scheme to get the baby to Spokane, was arrested and the child is now in protective custody.

Details of the 34-year-old woman’s ruse have not been released due to the active investigation, police said. Littlecalf was expected to be formally charged with kidnapping Monday.

Around 2:30 a.m. Friday, a man and two young children showed up to the Spokane County Jail to tell authorities that Littlecalf, a woman he and the children’s mother met separately online, had taken the mother’s baby.

The man, who is unrelated to the mother and her three children, agreed to drive the family from the Tri-Cities to Spokane, where they were to meet Littlecalf.

Police said that at some point after the group arrived in Spokane, Littlecalf was able to temporarily get the mother away from her children. While the mother was busy, police said, Littlecalf convinced the man to drive them to the Richard Allen Court Apartments, where Littlecalf said the children’s family lived.

Once they pulled up to the apartments, police said, Littlecalf took the youngest child, a baby, out of the car and never came back, prompting the driver to contact authorities.

Police found the woman around 10:30 a.m., police said.

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Child safe, woman in custody after Tri-Cities infant abducted in Spokane."