Missing 5-Year-Old Girl Found
***UPDATE THURSDAY 1:20 P.M.***Jeffrey Shelton was arraigned in Butler County Circuity Court Thursday on charges of child kidnapping, felonious restraint, second degree domestic assault and burglary.The judge ordered Shelton be jailed without bond. A preliminary hearing has been schedule for November 15th.Officials say security in the courtroom was very tight for Thursday morning’s arraignment.***UPDATE 4:20 P.M.***Poplar Bluff police have arrested Jeffrey Shelton on charges of child kidnapping, first degree burglary, felonious restraint, and second degree domestic assault. Shelton is being held without bond.The probable cause statement says a woman went to Shelton’s home early Wednesday and saw the child and that Shelton told the woman he was going to have to kill her and the girl.The woman told authorities that Shelton bound her with duct tape and made the child expose herself. The woman escaped, and Shelton fled with the child.***UPDATE 3:30 P.M.***Police say Abigail Berthoff and the suspect, Jeffrey Dean Shelton, were found during a traffic stop at 1:50 p.m. Wednesday along a rural highway about ten miles south of her hometown of Poplar Bluff.Poplar Bluff police officer Darron Moore says the suspect did not try to flee or resist arrest. Butler County prosecutor Kevin Barbour says he is finalizing paperwork on charges.The girl was taken to a hospital as a precaution.***UPDATE 2:10 P.M.***Police have located Abigail Berthoff and her abductor Jeffrey Dean Shelton. She was found about ten miles south of Poplar Bluff near Highway 160 and Highway 67.Police believe the girl is okay and she has been taken to a hospital.Shelton has been taken into custody.***ORIGINAL STORY***An Amber Alert has been issued for a 5-year-old girl who police believe was abducted from her home Wednesday morning.Police were called to the 2100 block of Wood Street in Poplar Bluff, Mo. at around 6:50 a.m. The girl’s mother says her daughter was not in her bedroom this morning when her mother went to wake her. Five-year-old Abigail Berthoff has a medium complexion with black hair and brown eyes.Police believe she may be with 46-year-old Jeffery Shelton. Shelton is a registered sex offender. He was last seen driving a silver, 2001 Nissan Pathfinder with Missouri license plates PJ8Z5M. Police did not say whether Abigail and Shelton are related.According to our affiliate in St. Louis, KTVI, and the Missouri Highway Patrol sex offender registry, Shelton was convicted in 1990 of kidnapping a 12 year old in Fort Hood, Texas. He was also found guilty of rape, attempted kidnapping and two counts of sodomy.According to the Butler County Sheriff’s Department Shelton is wanted for abduction and assault against another person.Anyone with further information is asked to contact local law enforcement.
