The mother and aunt of an 8-year-old girl, who was taken from a Jefferson City elementary school Thursday afternoon, have been charged with parental kidnapping.
Mother Britney Coney, 27, and aunt Na'Diya (or Nadava) Curtis, 19, are accused of taking third grader Eboni Coney-King "without good cause and with the intent to deprive the father of his custody," according to a Jefferson City police news release.
Authorities said the parents have no court-ordered custody agreement, but the child has lived with her dad in Jefferson City for the past two years.
There is a dismissed child protection order that previously was active, with the mother as respondent.
Police said the mother, Coney, lives in Texas and hasn't visited her daughter in two years.
But the case files posted Friday afternoon on Case.net, the state courts system's online docket reporting system, showed different St. Louis addresses for both Coney and Curtis.
Police said they were called to West School, at Dix Road and West Main Street, at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, after Eboni, 8, turned up missing.
Police said a van driver, who was to take her to day care, alerted school officials that she was missing, and the school called her father.
An endangered person advisory was issued because school video showed Curtis entered West School through a rear door, contacted Eboni and walked her to a vehicle where Coney was waiting.
The video footage indicated the child began struggling when she saw her mother, and as she was being put into the vehicle.
The aunt and mother never checked-in with the school, or told the school or the father that they were picking up the girl.
An investigation led detectives to believe Coney was staying with her mother in the St. Louis area.
After detectives called Coney, another woman - identified as the girl's grandmother - brought the girl into a police station at 1 a.m. Friday.
Her father eventually picked Eboni up at that station.
Jefferson City police officials said Friday a child's safety is their top priority in these types of cases.
"Whether or not there are custody issues, our priority is to find the child and make sure they are safe," Capt. Bob Clark said. "There's no "crying wolf' in these matters."
Clark said police had dealt with this same couple a year ago over the child's custody.
Although both women were charged, police said they were not in custody as of Friday afternoon.
When arrested, their warrants show each woman is to be held on $50,000 bond.
No court dates have been set.