Kidnapped youth found at camp area
JAMUL, Calif. (AP) – An alert campground security officer led authorities to a missing 9-year-old boy abducted earlier this week at gunpoint from his home. Nicholas Farber was found Friday at a campground in Jamul, about 20 miles east of San Diego. His mother and an unidentified man were arrested, authorities said.
“We have great news. We have Nicholas and he is safe,” Riverside County Sheriff-elect Bob Doyle said.
The boy was abducted at 2 a.m. Wednesday by two men who broke into the home of Nicholas’ father, Michael Farber, beat him and took his son. A day later, authorities named the boy’s mother, Debra Rose, and her former roommate as suspects.
Nicholas was the subject of a custody dispute between Rose and Farber, 47, who divorced in 1996.
As a handcuffed Rose was hustled into jail, a reporter asked why she had taken Nicholas and she replied: “He was taken from me.”
Authorities had been searching for a motor home with Florida license plates believed to be carrying the boy.
Harold Stayton, a security guard at the Thousand Trails park, told The Associated Press he remembered the description of the motor home from news reports when he saw it in the park in a remote location 80 miles southwest of Palm Desert.
Stayton said the license plate was initially obscured by a flap over the motor home’s fuel tank. Lifting the flap, he spotted a Florida license plate and called police.
Authorities began massing at the park, then quietly evacuated neighboring campers before knocking on the motor home’s door.
FBI Special Agent Richard Garcia said Rose and the man initially refused to come out, but surrendered peacefully after they saw deputies had surrounded the vehicle.
Rose, 38, and the man were arrested. The man was not immediately identified.
Mother and son were returned to Palm Desert together, and television footage showed her kissing the back of her son’s head after they were placed in a patrol car.
Later they were transferred to a helicopter for the trip to Palm Desert, where Nicholas was reunited with his father and Rose was jailed, said San Diego Sheriff’s Sgt. Rod Gilmore.
Authorities said Rose appeared to have altered her appearance, cutting and dyeing her blonde hair. Nicholas’ hair also appeared to have been cut and dyed.
Doyle said investigators were continuing to search for others who may be involved in the kidnapping.
The motor home was registered to an Orange County woman identified only as the neighbor of Rose’s aunt, Julie Dohle. She was being questioned by FBI agents, a source close to the investigation told The Associated Press.
Dohle had been questioned earlier, the source said.
Sheriff’s deputies towed two vehicles – one belonging to the neighbor, another belonging to Dohle – from the upscale Orange County neighborhood.
“We have been extremely worried and upset regarding the actions of the past couple of days. We are very happy Debbie and Nicholas have been found and are safe,” Dohle said in a written statement.
The boy’s mother was declared a suspect Thursday after her pickup was found at a Primm, Nev., casino. A $46,000 reward had been posted for information leading to Nicholas’ whereabouts.
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Associated Press reporter Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.