EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Authorities in southern Illinois say they are concerned about health of a teenage girl and her newborn son who they believe were kidnapped by her stepfather.
Madison County Sheriff John Lakin on Thursday said 13-year-old Katherine Elizabeth Derleth of Carpenter has a congenital heart defect and a pacemaker. Equipment to monitor the pacemaker was left behind when she went missing last weekend.
According to the Southern Illinoisan, the girl also was under a doctor’s care after the Sept. 1 birth of her son, Christopher R. Derleth, by Cesarean section.
Authorities on Monday filed kidnapping charges against the stepfather, 39-year-old Christopher M. Derleth of Granite City and were searching for the three. He had been previously ordered not to contact her.
