Faith Etapa, 8, and Grace Etapa, 7, were located unharmed, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office canceled the Amber Alert at 11:34 p.m. Saturday night.
The girls’ mother, Leslee R. Hebein-Etapa, was apprehended about 6 p.m. CST Saturday night near Waupaca, Wis., according to Detective Bill Millhausen of the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department.
Millhausen said he began working the case a few months ago when Hebein-Etapa and the girls didn’t return after a summer vacation to Wisconsin. where they live with their father.
“I went at it from the angle of attempting to get arrest warrants for (violations of court orders),” he said. “I know now she hid the children.”
He believes Hebein-Etapa was tipped off about the warrant.
“She took off with the children and that’s when we became fearful for their safety,” Millhausen said.
The children and the mom had been involved with the criminal justice system in the past, he said, and based upon information from individuals involved, authorities feared for “great bodily harm or death if the dad was to get custody of the girls.”
Millhausen said Hebein-Etapa was not cooperative in providing authorities with her daughters’ whereabouts.
Marathon County officials believe the girls were housed in Jefferson County home of a friend who attends the same church as Hebein-Etapa.
No one from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office was available for comment Sunday.
Reporter Alana Listoe: 4474081 or alana.listoe@helenair.com
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