UPDATE: 7:10 p.m. Manchester Police have canceled the Amber Alert, Erika Wallace was located in Massachusetts with her 2-year-old, who she reportedly abducted from the Mall of NH during a supervised visitation arranged through NH DCYF.
Shortly after 6:30 p.m. Tewksbury, Mass., police located the kidnapped child in their town. The child was unharmed and was in the company of his biological mother and father. Both parents were taken into custody on warrants out of Massachusetts.
Tewksbury officers spotted the minivan outside a Home Depot, which appeared suspicious, according to Tewksbury Det. Lt. Ryan Columbus during a press conference.
After running the license plate, police became aware of the Amber Alert for 2-year-old Joshua Wallace, who was reportedly abducted by his mother during a supervised visit. The child is under guardianship of the NH DCYF.
Police said there were packed suitcases inside the minivan. A third person in the van, identified as Nicolette Russell, was also arrested.
“The child is safe. There will be a full investigation conducted quickly and details will be released as appropriate,” sais NH Department of Health and Human Services chief Jeff Myers, in a statement released following the arrest.
The investigation into the kidnapping is ongoing.
UPDATE 6:45 p.m. NH State Police are awaiting confirmation that Erika Wallace was located and placed into custody in Massachusetts. We’ll update the story as soon as that’s confirmed.
MANCHESTER, NH – Police say a mother whose 2-year-old was in the legal custody of DCYF took him during a supervised visit at the Mall of NH on Friday.
At approximately 3:45 p.m. April 28 the Manchester Police responded to the Food Court at the Mall of NH for a report of a missing 2-year-old boy. During the subsequent investigation the responding officer learned that the child is in the custody of DCYF and was at the Mall with an employee of DCYF conducting a supervised visit with the child’s mother, Erika Wallace, 26, of Raymond. According to the report the DCYF employee looked down at her phone and when she looked up the mother and child were gone. Responding units checked the Mall and the surrounding area, however the mother and child were not located.
Erika Wallace is described as 5-foot-6 inches tall, 155 pounds. She was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, gray sweat pants with a Bruins logo, black flip-flops, with her hair in a pony tail.
The child was identified as Joshua Wallace, last seen wearing the clothes depicted in the photo here – red overalls, white T-shirt with dark stripes, black-and-red Nike sneakers. He has brown hair and is about 36-inches tall, weighing 30 pounds. They are believed to be traveling in a white 2003 Chrysler Town-and-Country van, NH registration 396-0164.
According to the Eagle Tribune, Erika Wallace and Joshua Wallace, 27, were arrested in Oct. of 2016 after buying heroin in Lawrence with their son Joshua, who was 18 months old at the time, in the car.
If anyone has information regarding this incident they should contact the Manchester Police Department at 603-668-8711.
