Lafayette Sheriff’s Office Finds Grandmother Who Took Juvenile from Florida Family

A grandmother is alleged to have taken her grandchild without the family's permission in Fort Myers, Florida, and the search was on to find the juvenile. The alert came to the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office on Friday, October 21.

Law enforcement along the Gulf south was notified to be on the lookout for the child and the grandmother, and while the pair were spotted near LaPlace on Friday morning, officers there were not successful in stopping the driver.

Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office Spokeswoman Valerie Ponseti says that the Sheriff's Office used its Real Time Crime Center to aid in its search for the grandmother, and the results were successful.

The child has been reunited with family in Fort Myers, Florida.

Ponseti says that Lafayette Real Time Crime Center deputies were able to successfully stop 49-year-old Joanna Holcomb during a traffic stop on I-10. Holcomb was arrested on a felony warrant out of Florida.

The child was in good condition and arrangements were immediately made to reunite the child with their family.

Sheriff Mark Garber had this to say about this arrest,

The outcome of this case is exactly what the innovation of our Real Time Crime Center was intended to produce. A child is headed home safely to her family tonight thanks to the proactive response of our deputies, who used the resources at their disposal to the fullest.