Second District Judge Rodney Page has scheduled a Jan. 3 trial for two people accused of abducting an 8-year-old girl from Morgan Elementary School, court officials said Tuesday.
The suspects, identified in court records as Bonnie L. Smith, 39, and Wayne Robert Smith, 39, pleaded innocent Monday at their arraignment before Page. They remained in custody in the Weber County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail each.The pair is charged with the Oct. 5 abduction of Coeleen Smith and with the attempted kidnapping of the child's 11-year-old sister, Kaeleen, from Morgan Middle School.
The suspects were arrested about 12 miles east of Morgan, hiding with the youngest girl near the Weber River, said Morgan County Sheriff Bert Holbrook. Their car had broken down about one mile from where the three were discovered after law officers received a tip from a resident.
The woman told officers she was the mother of the girls, who had been placed in foster homes by the state Division of Family Services. Sheriff's deputies said investigators later determined the defendant is the natural mother.