Background: News footage of Tamara Hamby leaving jail with her husband, Jeffrey Hamby (KFSM). Insets (left, top to bottom): Tamara Hamby and Shannon Childers (Crawford County Detention Center). Insets (right, top to bottom): David Quach and Nico Austria (Crawford County Detention Center).
An Arkansas woman faces charges of staging a fake kidnapping of her disabled daughter to stop her from talking to strangers online.
Tamara “Tammi” Hamby, 59, was released from a Crawford County jail after she turned herself in to police on Wednesday. Authorities charged her and three other individuals with endangering an incompetent person. Tammi Hamby also faces conspiracy to commit kidnapping charges. According to an arrest warrant obtained by local CBS affiliate KFSM, Tammi Hamby allegedly devised the fake kidnapping to teach her 22-year-old daughter, who is mentally disabled, the dangers of talking to strangers online.
Jeffrey Hamby, Tammi Hamby”s husband and the father of the woman, told the station that the family had been dealing with an online scammer for several months. Their daughter believed the scammer was country singer Luke Bryan, and Jeffrey Hamby said, “We tried everything, and she has not stopped communicating with him, and he was going to get her. He was going to take her.”
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According to the arrest warrant, Tammi Hamby allegedly recruited Shannon Childers, a live-in certified nurse assistant who was a caregiver for the Hambys’ daughter, to concoct a scheme to have the young woman kidnapped by people who said they could introduce her to Luke Bryan. Childers then allegedly roped in two of her friends, David Quach and Nico Austria, to take part in the plot.
Police said that Tammi Hamby planned to have her daughter taken out of the house and tied to a tree in a neighboring field. Tammi Hamby would then step in and rescue her daughter.
The alleged plot was carried out on Nov. 17, when Quach and Austria showed up at the Hambys’ home wearing ski masks. As Jeffrey Hamby recounted to local ABC affiliate KHBS, both men told the daughter that they were sent by Luke Bryan to come get her, saying, “Luke sent us today. It’s now or never.” The daughter then “willingly” followed the men into their car “with her guitar and her teddy bear.”
According to the affidavit, Austria got lost while driving and brought the daughter to the wrong field. They followed through with their alleged plan to zip-tie the young woman to a tree and threaten to harm her. However, the daughter broke free and ran for help before Austria and Quach tackled her. They allegedly tied her to the tree again and left. Police said that Tammi Hamby was watching the whole thing unfold.
The daughter was able to free herself a second time and run to a nearby house to call 911.
A deputy with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office who interviewed the daughter said that she “was in fear for her life and clung tightly to a teddy bear the entirety of me speaking with her during her interview.”
Tammi Hamby, Childers, Quach, and Austria were all arrested and booked into jail. Tammi Hamby’s bond was set at $125,000, which she posted. Bond was set at $25,000 for the three other defendants.
Jeffrey Hamby was not charged and stated that he did not know about the alleged plot. The Hambys’ daughter was taken into custody by the Arkansas Department of Human Services after filing an emergency petition. Tammi Hamby is due in court again on Dec. 10.
