Missing child found in Venus

Special to the Times-Review

February 13, 2009 12:26 pm

— Law enforcement officials retrieved a 3-year-old child in Venus on Feb. 8 without incident, Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford said.
The child, who was reported missing out of Indiana since September 2007, was in fine condition and has been remanded to the care of the Texas Department of Child Protective Services, Alford said.
Police arrested the child’s mother, and noncustodial parent, Amber Dawn Stonestreet on a no-bond felony warrant for interference with child custody. Stonestreet remains jailed at the Johnson County Corrections Center.
Officers with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office Warrant Division worked with Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Intelligence Service investigators on the case.
JCSO began the investigation on Nov. 25 based on information received from the Allen County Sheriff’s Office in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Texas Department of Public Safety began assisting JCSO on Dec. 12.
Both agencies developed the case through investigation, confidential informants, long hours and numerous leads, Alford said. By Feb. 8, sufficient information had been collected to prompt both agencies to set surveillance up at a residence in the 300 block of Ridge Hollow Trail in Venus, Alford said.
Information indicated that Stonestreet left home at about 9 a.m. each Sunday to attend church. Deputies spotted Stonestreet’s vehicle traveling southbound on U.S. 67 and conducted a traffic stop. Police made two other arrests at the time.
John Morris Haynes, 56, was arrested on charges of tampering with a government document and theft of service. His bonds were set at $15,000 and $301 respectively. Haynes bonded out of jail on Feb. 9.
Sherrie Deann Haynes was arrested for warrants out of Johnson, Tarrant and Hockley counties. She remains jailed.