Lakesha Brown arrested after abducting two children and hiding them in an Atlanta trailer

Lakesha Brown, 42, befriended mother Elica Redding via an online group for expectant and new mothers and was later entrusted with caring for Redding’s daughters, Zola, 4, and Norah, 11 months. When Redding went to retrieve the children, both Brown and the girls were missing. Police, aided by the FBI, tracked Brown’s mobile device to a residence in the Sylvan Hills neighborhood of Atlanta.

Officers discovered a locked white trailer without windows, heard a baby crying, and forced the door open, finding the two children safe but the trailer lacking air conditioning and proper living conditions. Brown has been charged with two counts of kidnapping and two counts of child abuse and is being held without bail. Authorities also referenced a prior incident in Alabama where Brown was accused of a similar kidnapping of a newborn, though that case ended with the child recovered unharmed.