Court documents reveal how a Boone County mother was caught
Court documents filed on Friday revealed how authorities were able to find a mother accused of kidnapping her child.
Jillanne Pagano, who is the mother of Lillianna Pagano, was charged in May 2018 in Boone County with felony child abduction. Jillanne was taken into custody last week after authorities had been searching for her for more than a year.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol has been helping Tyler Bozeman, who is Lillianna’s father, find the child since 2016 after he was granted sole custody by a Boone County court. During the investigation, troopers questioned Jillanne’s mother and sister — Valerie and Julianna Pagano — who were uncooperative, court documents said.
Valerie and Julianna claimed to know nothing during the investigation and would not give troopers phone numbers or addresses, court documents said. However, troopers received a search warrant for Valerie and Julianna’s home in Rocheport on Wednesday.
During the search, troopers found an SD card that contained photos of what appeared to be a wedding between Jillanne and an unknown man. The photos were dated Aug. 15, 2018, and Valerie, Julianna and Lillianna were in many of the photos, court documents said. Troopers also found a receipt for a cabin rental in Murphy, North Carolina. The rental was from June 2-16, 2019, for two adults and one child.
Troopers then contacted authorities in Cherokee County, North Carolina, and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office was able to locate Jillanne and Lillianna at the rented cabin.
Jillanne was taken into custody, and Lillianna has since been reunited with her father.
Valerie and Julianna were taken into custody on Saturday and charged with felony hindering prosecution. Both women bonded out of the Boone County Jail.
