Kristi Nicole Gilley
A 36-year-old woman is under arrest in Florida nearly a full year after her children were considered kidnapped and missing from Missouri. Authorities in the Sunshine State allege that Kristi Nicole Gilley and her two children were located while shopping in disguise at a Winn Dixie store last Wednesday, Feb. 1.
The two kids, who were identified publicly as 11-year-old Brooke Gilley and 12-year-old Adrian Gilley, had been missing as of March 15, 2022, police said. According to a missing person’s poster shared by the California Attorney General’s Office, March 15 is Adrian’s birthday.
“On February 1, 2023, HSPD located two abducted Missouri children and their abductor after a routine vehicle tag check indicated the vehicle owner was a fugitive,” the High Springs Police Department said in a Facebook update on the case. “Officers located the trio shopping in Winn Dixie, after disguising their identities.”
“The children were turned over to the Florida Department of Children and Families Services and will be reunited with their birth family,” police added.
Jail records reviewed by Law&Crime show that Kristi Gilley has been in the custody of the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office in Florida since 2:31 p.m. on Feb. 2. The defendant will presumably remain there until she is extradited to Clay County, Mo. — the jurisdiction for the warrant of her arrest — to face kidnapping charges.
“Both Gilley kids have been safely located out of state,” Liberty Police Department in Missouri posted in an update. “Their non-custodial mother is in custody on parental kidnapping charges out of Clay County, Missouri. Thank you to everyone who shared this post as it helped bring these children home!!!”
Law&Crime submitted a public records request for additional information on the circumstances of the defendant’s Florida arrest. This story will be updated if we receive a response.
Court records list Gainesville public defender William Miller as Gilley’s attorney of record. Law&Crime reached out to the lawyer for comment.
[Images via High Springs Police Department, California Attorney General’s Office]