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Wilmerding Woman Accused Of Kidnapping Son From School

WILMERDING (KDKA)- A woman is behind bars for allegedly kidnapping her 8-year-old son from an East Allegheny elementary school.

Allegheny County Sheriffs' deputies arrested Kanisha Thompson, 25, of Wilmerding.

On Tuesday, family court awarded full custody of Thompson's son to his biological father. Later that day, Thompson illegally removed her son from an elementary school in the East Allegheny School District.

"I didn't sleep in those two days. I didn't eat in those two days. I stressed, like, every minute of the day," LeMoyne Williams said.

Williams said his son is in the second grade at Logan Elementary School in the East Allegheny School District. He he notified the school immediately after the custody decision.

"Once I was aware that I was going to have custody, I had called the school to let the school know to not release him to anybody's custody," Williams said.

The Allegheny County Sheriff's Department said Thompson went to the school at dismissal and took her son. The superintendent at East Allegheny said just minutes after Thompson came to the school, they received a fax from the courts about the custody change.

The school contacted Thompson and thought she would bring the boy to the police department, but she never did.

"I was so concerned because they don't even know the whereabouts of her. She doesn't even have her own address. So, if you're just running the streets with my son, that's a big problem," Williams said.

Detectives and the FBI developed information that the woman was staying with another woman in North Braddock.

Deputies went to an apartment in the 500-block of Price Avenue and made entry Thursday morning. Thompson was found hiding in the basement. Her son was also found inside the apartment.

Thompson was taken into custody and the child was returned into the custody of his father. The other woman in the apartment has not been charged in the case.

Thompson faces charges of kidnapping, interfering with the custody of a child and concealing the whereabouts of a child. She also was wanted on a bench warrant for probation violation.

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