Nationwide manhunt ends in Avoyelles

Couple living on Old River arrested for kidnapping their grandchildren

A nationwide search for three children abducted by their grandparents in November 2017 ended on Feb. 5 when U.S. Marshals caught up to fugitive family of the Old River community of Avoyelles Parish.

The grandparents were arrested and charged with kidnapping for allegedly taking them from their mother in November of 2017.

Avoyelles Parish Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Steve Martell said David McConnell, 52, and Susan McConnell, 51, were held without bond in Marksville pending transfer to Spokane, Wash. There are also charges pending against David McConnell in Arizona.

The children are Dusty, 10, Cassandra, 12 and Dakotah, 14.

The children were taken from the Spokane area in November 2017, while the grandparents still had legal custody but the parents were seeking to regain custody. The parents were awarded custody in March 2018. The Spokane Superior Court issued kidnapping warrants in the case in September 2018.

The Spokane Police Department worked with the U.S. Marshal’s Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force on the cross-county search for the three missing children.

The Marshals tracked them through 11 states before finding and arresting them near Marksville.

The couple had 20 firearms when they were arrested. An APSO officer said U.S. Marshals made the arrests and did not tell local officials where the arrests were made, but it is believed to have been at their residence on Old River.

The McConnells’ address was 1386 Old River Road between Marksville and Mansura -- an area of mostly camps along Old River.

The children were recovered without incident and have been placed in protective custody while the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children works with authorities to reunite them with their mother in Spokane.

“Child abductions are very serious crimes,” U.S. Marshal Craig Thayer said. “We could not wish for a better outcome than what happened with this case, with three children recovered safely and the two suspects in custody.

“The cooperation and ongoing relationships between the U.S. Marshals and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, as well as all our partner law enforcement agencies, are key to resolving these types of cases -- as is the ability to reach across jurisdictional lines to arrest suspects.”

A TRAGIC FAMILY SECRET

The story began with a tragic family secret that started in Arizona 20 years ago. David McConnell, the stepfather of the children’s mother, allegedly impregnated his stepdaughter when she was 14, according to information reported by investigators to online news site spokesman.com.

She said McConnell had begun molesting her when she was only 12, in 1998-99.

McConnell reportedly told her to say the baby was her boyfriend’s and if she ever told anyone her first child was his, he would take the other three children and she would never see them again.

The children’s mother is not identified in this story because she is the alleged victim of rape when she was a child. She is referred to as “stepdaughter” and “children’s mother” in this article.

The stepdaughter married the boyfriend and the couple had three children.

The McConnell's persuaded the children's mother to give the children the hyphenated name of Morrison-McConnell. When the young couple briefly separated, things got more complicated.

Susan McConnell learned that the man her daughter was dating during that time was a sex offender and threatened to have state child protection services take the children from her if she did not sign over temporary custody to the McConnells.

The children’s mother later reconciled with her husband. In 2016, the McConnell’s moved to Bonner County, Wash., with the three younger children. The children’s parents and the oldest child remained in Spokane.

In 2017, the parents of the three children sought to regain custody.

A Spokane judge awarded custody to them in March 2018. Despite efforts by law enforcement, the children were not returned to their parents.

INVESTIGATION BEGAN

The mother said she spoke to David McConnell on Feb. 18, 2018 when he asked her why she was trying to get the children back. He told her in that phone call that she would never see them again.

Spokane Police Detective Christopher Bode began an investigation in September 2018 concerning the McConnells’ violation of a court order to return the children to their parents.

That same month, Yavapai County (Ariz.) Sheriff’s Office Detective David Moya contacted Bode about information he had received concerning allegations that McConnell had raped the children’s mother when she was a juvenile.

Moya recounted the allegations that McConnell molested and impregnated his stepdaughter when they were living near Prescott, Ariz.

Moya said DNA tests conclusively exclude the children’s father as the father of the oldest child. The September 2018 warrant also includes an order for David McConnell to submit to a DNA test to determine if he fathered his stepdaughter’s first child.

If it does, he may also be charged with 3rd degree rape in Arizona, Moya said.

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