Search for Missing Child, 3, Becomes Homicide Investigation After Mom Lied About Abduction: Police

News By TooFab Staff |
New Castle County Police Department

The Amber Alert for Nola Dinkins was canceled on Wednesday after investigators determined her mother had made up her story about a dramatic abduction at gunpoint -- meanwhile, a body was recovered in connection to the case.

As details continue to slowly come into focus, the Maryland State Police are confident about one thing: The abduction of 3-year-old Nola Dinkins never happened.

The child's mother, Darrian Randle, 31, has been taken into custody and charged with felony false reporting, according to local Fox affiliate WTTG. Police also confirmed on Wednesday that a body was found in connection to this case and they are awaiting positive identification.

Officers responded to a report of a possible kidnapping at around 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, per a press release from the Maryland State Police. Randle detailed a harrowing incident of being approached by a white man, who took her daughter at gunpoint.

According to Randle, she had pulled over to the side of the road in order to comfort her daughter. While she was pulled over, she said the man approached them at gunpoint and took Dinkins.

She then described the vehicle he purportedly fled the scene in, detailing a dark-colored SUV driven by a white female accomplice.

In response, police in Delaware immediately issued an Amber Alert and began conducting an extensive search involving the New Castle County Division of Police Criminal Investigations Unit and the FBI, which carried over the night and into the next morning. All the while, police would later determine, there was no abduction.

In an updated press release from the New Castle County Police, the Amber Alert was canceled after the ongoing investigation "determined the initial account of the incident given by the mother was false."

The release went on to note that the investigation has "sadly" transitioned into a homicide investigation by the Maryland State Police, with their detectives working closely alongside them and the FBI as they continue to uncover the truth about what happened.

The Maryland State Police then followed with an update on the case, posted to Facebook, where it was stated that "a body has been recovered in Cecil County."

Randle is now being charged with first- and second-degree murder, first-degree child abuse resulting in the death of a minor under thirteen, filing a false police report in Delaware, and other related criminal charges, according to ABC affiliate WPVI's reporting on a news conference about the case on Wednesday night.

Another man, Cedric Britten, 44, was also charged in relation to the case. Police say he is Randle's boyfriend and has been charged with accessory to first- and second-degree murder after the fact, failure to report child death, and other related offenses. He is in police custody in Maryland.

In her admission to police that she had lied, Randle allegedly told them she had falsely reported her daughter kidnapped to "divert attention from her boyfriend," according to a criminal complaint reviewed by WPVI.

The news outlet states that the body recovered was found in a vacant lot, and while it has not been officially determined to be Dinkins, the remains are "consistent with that of a child," per authorities. An autopsy is being conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore.

Elena Russo, a Maryland State Police spokesperson, said at the news conference, "Our homicide unit investigators had enough information gleaned through the investigation that connected these two individuals with the disappearance of this 3-year-old."

Randle is currently being held on a $1 million cash bond and is awaiting extradition to Cecil County.