IDAHO FALLS — Dive teams continued searching the Snake River into the night Monday looking to recover a 19-month-old Utah child who had been the subject of an AMBER kidnapping alert.
Acacia Patience Bishop was believed to have been kidnapped Sunday by her maternal grandmother, Kelley Jean Lodmell, 38, from the Salt Lake County home of her great-grandmother.
Monday, officers from the Idaho Falls Police Department detained Lodmell, who reportedly suffers from a mental disorder, at a riverside park in Idaho Falls after a 911 call reporting that the woman had lost the baby in the swift-moving river.
Acacia stands about 2 feet, 6 inches tall, with light brown hair and blue eyes. She was last wearing a pink sundress with white sunflowers.
When officers arrived at the park, one of them recognized Lodmell from an AMBER Alert that had been issued earlier in the day, according to Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Kennard. The 911 call had been made at the request of Lodmell.
"She had been in the river," Kennard said, adding that Lodmell indicated "she had been wading and lost control of the baby."
Lodmell has yet to be charged but is being held by Idaho Falls police. Two detectives from Salt Lake County flew to Idaho Falls Monday afternoon to question her, Kennard said.
A dozen two-person dive teams spent much of Monday searching the Snake River, which bisects Idaho Falls. Kennard said the search has been hampered due to high runoff levels and swift currents. "Needless to say, it's high, and it will be tough for the dive teams to find anything," he said.
Finding Acacia safely still remains a remote possibility, however, as apparently no one actually witnessed Lodmell go into the river with the baby, Kennard said.
The last time Lodmell and Acacia were spotted together was Sunday night when a clerk at a hotel on the banks of the river saw them check into a room.
Ordinarily, the abduction of a child by a family member would be treated as a custodial problem, but Kennard said the AMBER Alert was issued after sheriff's deputies were unable to locate the baby and multiple interviews with family members indicated that Acacia may be in danger.
At a Monday morning press conference, Acacia's mother, Casey Lodmell, and great-grandmother, Linda Lodmell, said that the grandmother has been diagnosed as bipolar and may also be paranoid schizophrenic. She has been ill for 12 years and has gotten progressively worse.
"You never know what she's going to do from one minute to the next," said Linda Lodmell, who was cleaning house and left the child alone briefly to put away the vacuum. "I thought I could trust Kelley (the grandmother). I never dreamed she would do that."
But it is not the first time that Kelley Lodmell has taken Acacia. About a year ago, she took the baby, although Acacia was found in a basement 30 minutes later. A report was filed with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, although no charges were pressed against Kelley Lodmell.
"She said she wanted (Acacia) for her own," Casey Lodmell said. "For her own selfish reasons she wanted to be (Acacia's) parents, not us."
Linda Lodmell, a frequent baby sitter for her great-granddaughter, was tending Acacia while the child's parents were at a wedding reception. Linda Lodmell said she never leaves Acacia alone with Kelley Lodmell, who has had limited contact with the little girl since the incident last year.
When Acacia disappeared Sunday, Linda Lodmell tried looking for her daughter at a grocery store and a convenience store close to her home near 4600 South and 800 East because Kelly Lodmell had mentioned needing to go to the store. The family also drove around the valley on Sunday to places they know Kelley Lodmell frequents but were unable to locate her.
Kelley Lodmell is homeless and usually lives in her car, but she often comes to the house to wash her clothes, Linda Lodmell said. She has been on and off medication for her mental health problems but is without work and has no money to pay for expensive medications, Linda Lodmell said.
Kelley Lodmell also has a criminal record that include arrests for intoxication, drug possession, driving while under the influence and aggravated assault. The last time she was in jail was January.
Linda Lodmell said she tried getting mental health care for her daughter through the corrections department and a parole officer, but no one has provided any services, she said.
Anyone with information about the case should contact the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office at 1-801-743-7000.
E-MAIL: jdobner@desnews.com; jloftin@desnews.com