Trista Fullerton (Anderson Police Department)
A 36-year-old woman from Arkansas was arrested in California over the weekend after she was allegedly caught with eight kidnapped children, all of whom were eventually safely recovered by authorities. Trista Dawn Fullerton, the biological mother of the eight kids, was taken into custody on Saturday and held as a fugitive from justice for unlawfully abducting the children and driving them more than halfway across the country, police announced.
According to a news release from the Anderson Police Department in California, a concerned citizen at about 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 21 contacted the Shasta Area Safety Communications Agency and requested a welfare check on a group of six children seen in the care of a woman the caller said was “displaying bizarre behavior” in the parking lot outside of a Mexican restaurant.
Officers responded to the scene and quickly located the woman — later identified as Fullerton — and the half-dozen children in front of the store. Police said that the woman and kids were all found to be “associated” with a white Dodge pickup truck with Arkansas license plates.
Authorities provided photos of the vehicle, which was filthy with food, drinks, wrappers, and other trash covering the dashboard and the floors in the front and back of the car.
Police spoke with Fullerton and learned she was from Rogers, Arkansas, in Benton County, about 13 miles from the state’s northern border with Missouri.
“A records check revealed Trista to have a felony warrant for her arrest for the abduction of eight children,” police wrote in the news release. “Officers arrested Fullerton on her arrest warrant and interviewed her regarding the location of the other two abducted children. Officers learned that the children were located at a residence in the Cottonwood area, and requested the assistance of the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office in locating them.”
SCSO deputies were subsequently able to locate the remaining two children. All eight siblings were reunited and placed into the care of Shasta County Children and Family Services.
“A records check on the eight children revealed them to all be listed as abducted with protective custody warrants issued for their safety,” police said. “Officers learned that Fullerton was the biological mother of all of the children, however had lost her custodial rights and had abducted the children from their foster placements.”
Fullerton was transported to the Shasta County Jail where she is being held on the Arkansas charges for allegedly taking the kids. She is being held without bond and is awaiting extradition back to Arkansas.
Police said that the county was transporting all eight children back to Arkansas for “reunification with their guardians.”
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
