A man allegedly hid his 5-year-old daughter in a ‘void’ in a wall at a home to hide her from child custody workers who had a court order to take custody of her. (Screenshots from Tontitown (Ark.) Police Department)
Police in Arkansas found a 5-year-old girl in an 8-by-4-foot “void” in the back wall of a bedroom closet — a space the girl’s father allegedly told police he hid her so child custody workers could not take her, despite a court order that he relinquish the girl to authorities.
Jon Thompson, 40, was arrested on Friday and faces charges of false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a minor and interfering with child custody, police said.
It all began with a dispute over the court order on Nov. 1, when officers accompanied workers from the state’s Department of Human Services (DHS) to Thompson’s parents’ home in Tontitown, in northwest Arkansas, to take custody of his daughter, according to an affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
Once there, officers surrounded the residence to make sure Thompson did not try to flee with the child. He has a history of running from law enforcement and a traffic warrant out of Benton County, the affidavit said. He was described as “unfriendly toward law enforcement” when officers arrived at the home.
Thompson refused to open the door. He repeatedly said the child was not there but would not provide a location for officers to check on her well-being before retreating into the house and refusing to talk to the cops, the document said.
He provided a court order that granted him custody of the child as of Oct. 24. An officer told him DHS was granted a new court order that gave them custody of the girl. Once officers got the court order and showed it to Thompson, he agreed to let them in.
He led them through the back door into a bedroom to a walk-in closet. Thompson got onto his knees, lifted some hanging clothes, tapped on a false section of the wall and began calling for the girl, telling her it was him. He pulled away a board nailed to a wall leading to a small space — a “triangle-shaped void,” according to the affidavit — from which his daughter emerged, clearly in an emotional state.
Police body camera footage captured the discovery.
Thompson allegedly admitted to concealing her inside the space so DHS would not take custody of her, the affidavit said.
The affidavit said the girl was in the “confined space for approximately 30 minutes without being able to leave of her own will.”
She allegedly told authorities it was the only time she had been inside and that her dad told her she needed to be there, otherwise she’d be taken away from him.
“For the record, I love my daughter,” Thompson told CNN before referring the outlet to his lawyer, who did not immediately answer a request from CNN.
Tontitown police Detective Keith Lindley said this case will stick with him.
“It’s sad. It makes us sad, but we are relieved she is safe,” he said.
Thompson is set to appear in court again on Dec. 4, police said.
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