ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) Asheville police worked to unravel a kidnapping of two young boys that led to a multi-state manhunt and four arrests, including a man authorities identified as the boyfriend of the boys' mother.
The investigation went into high gear Sunday when a state-wide Amber Alert was issued for the 1-year-old and a 3-year-old boys last seen in Asheville. In less than three hours, the boys were found safe in a grocery store parking lot in nearby Swannanoa.
Later that day, the Asheville police department announced the arrests of four people, including three caught in Georgia.
Investigators have declined to say anything about the motive. Asheville Police Department spokeswoman Christina Hallingse said in an email she couldn't comment further about the ongoing investigation.
The police department said that Natasha Cantrell, Christopher Carter and Chadwick Agan were arrested in Jackson County, Georgia, on charges including child abduction counts. Jackson County is about 150 miles from Asheville. Police said Cantrell is from Gainesville.
At least five law enforcement agencies in Georgia and North Carolina were involved in the search for the suspects, according to the Citizen-Times newspaper in Asheville (http://goo.gl/VM08cS ).
Georgia State Patrol Sgt. Brian Roberts from the GSP post in Hartwell told the newspaper that he pulled three of the suspects over on Sunday morning after their vehicle was spotted by authorities near Commerce. Roberts identified Agan, 43, of Auburn, Georgia, as the boyfriend of the boys' mother.
Agan was released from a Georgia prison last year after serving a sentence for trafficking and possession of methamphetamine, according to criminal records.
The newspaper reported that the three suspects signed papers Monday allowing their extradition to North Carolina.
A fourth person, Trena Weaver, was charged with misdemeanor child abuse after her arrest in Asheville, according to police.
An arrest warrant for Weaver said Agan paid her $20 to transport the children and that she was intoxicated while she drove them. It doesn't say where she took them.
Police didn't immediately respond to an email Tuesday asking whether the suspects had attorneys.
The Buncombe County Sheriff's Office received a call Sunday afternoon that the boys were at an Ingles Market, and they were taken to a nearby fire department, said sheriff's spokeswoman Natalie Bailey.
AccessWDUN staff contributed to this report.
