Former Richland grandmother asked to babysit 2 hours, allegedly kept toddler 2 months

A woman who was asked to watch her 2-year-old granddaughter for a couple of hours in April is accused of moving across the state with the girl and keeping her for two months.

Brenda Amador, 48, eventually was tracked down to Marysville after the toddler’s father filed a report about his missing child.

Amador is charged in Benton County Superior Court with first-degree custodial interference. She has a Sept. 25 trial date after pleading innocent during a recent hearing.

The father asked Amador to babysit his daughter on April 11, according to court documents. Amador, who lived in Richland at the time, is the girl’s maternal grandmother.

The father needed to go the Benton County Justice Center to file custody paperwork since his daughter’s mother had recently been incarcerated in the Yakima County jail, documents said.

When he returned from the courthouse, both Amador and the toddler were gone. He repeatedly tried to contact her via telephone, text messages, Facebook and in person at her Richland home, but was unsuccessful.

The father reported to Richland police that Amador had changed her phone number and he believed she had moved to the west side, documents said.

A judge entered a temporary parenting plan on May 30, limiting the visitation rights of the toddler’s mother. Amador was not a party to that parenting plan, documents said.

Then on June 19, the investigation into the whereabouts of Amador and her granddaughter revealed they were living in Marysville, court documents said. A Marysville officer who went to the house found the girl there with several other adults. Amador was not at the home.

Marysville police and Child Protective Services intervened, and the girl immediately was returned to her father, documents said. She was cleared from the missing child registry as of June 20.

Amador is out of custody on her personal recognizance. Since she lives in Snohomish County, she was granted permission to travel across the state to make her court hearings.

This story was originally published July 17, 2017 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Former Richland grandmother asked to babysit 2 hours, allegedly kept toddler 2 months."