Woodward Claunch had to swallow hard several times while describing what he saw upon finding Kyndra Fink in a tent with her two infant sons in the remote Montana wilderness.
The mother and two children were lying in blankets, trying to keep warm. Claunch noticed that among several soiled diapers was a plastic container with about a half-inch of water left in it.Kyndra Fink looked "gaunt," and 21-month-old David "skeletal," Claunch said. Only Elijah, the newborn, seemed to be in "decent condition."
"During the first several minutes of contact with her (Kyndra), she seemed somewhat out of sorts or possibly delusional," Claunch said. She told him she'd been saving the water for the children.
"I think she was extremely relieved when I gave her some of that water. I thought she might pass out," said Claunch, a Stillwater County, Mont., deputy sheriff who testified Friday during a preliminary hearing in 3rd District Court for Kyndra and her husband, Christopher Fink.
The pair are charged with child kidnapping, a first-degree felony; child abuse, a second-degree felony; and aggravated assault, a third-degree felony. Prosecutors allege the couple kidnapped their son, David, from Primary Children's Medical Center Sept. 19 and neglected him by not feeding him properly.
Among Friday's witnesses, Camille Hyatt, a nursing assistant at Primary Children's Medical Center, testified that on Sept. 19 she was supervising a visit by Christopher and Kyndra Fink with David. The child had been taken to the hospital several days earlier by Kyndra's family members and placed in state protective custody after physicians determined he was suffering from severe malnourishment, according to prosecutors.
During the visit, Kyndra Fink agreed to go out to their car to get a meal pass and a Polaroid camera while her husband, who was holding David, and Hyatt waited in the hospital's foyer, Hyatt said. Wondering what was taking Kyndra so long, Christopher Fink went to peek out the front entrance and then ran out with the child.
"I ran after him," Hyatt said. "I thought it was my responsibility to protect the child."
Christopher Fink jumped into a car waiting at the curb with the passenger door open, Hyatt said. Before the car started, Hyatt grabbed the door. When the car started, the door swung shut on her hands.
Hyatt was dragged for about 90 feet, according to police estimates, until the door opened and she let go. She suffered numerous bruises and scrapes to her arms and legs.
On Oct. 4, a man contacted the Stillwater County Sheriff's Office to report he had seen a car that matched the car the Finks were driving, as he had seen it broadcast on "Dateline" that night, Claunch testified. While investigating the report, Claunch also learned that some hunters had seen a man matching Christopher Fink's description in the area.
The next day, Claunch and the county fish and game warden searched the remote wilderness where Fink and the car had been seen. That afternoon, Claunch spotted Christopher Fink walking down a county road, apparently going back to his campsite with some supplies. He told Claunch he was going to build a cabin for his family.
At first, Fink was reluctant to reveal his family's location because he was afraid that as soon as authorities found them he'd be shot and killed, Claunch said. "He felt the feds were railroading him."
But eventually Fink led Claunch and the game warden to the rugged canyon where his family had set up camp, about six miles from where he had been found.
After observing the family's condition, Claunch decided to call for a medical helicopter. While he waited, a reserve captain arrived with some food and water.
"I gave David a cracker," Claunch said. The officer was kneeling right over the boy, who was lying under some covers, and put a cracker on his pillow.
"He opened his eyes and he snatched it with his left hand and put it in his mouth," Claunch said. "The motion of that hand I can only liken to watching a rattlesnake strike."
The Finks' preliminary hearing will continue Monday.