Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 15, 1990 TAG: 9003152728
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
Authorities said the search was continuing for an Air Force deserter and the 12-year-old aunt of the abducted child.
Brittany Collins of Gulfport, Miss., was found at the King George Econo Lodge, according to Randy Wydell, an agent for the Naval Investigative Service in New Orleans.
The child's parents, Jerry and Angela Lynette Collins, were reunited with their daughter late Wednesday night at the Williamsburg motel.
FBI special agent Tom Love said state, local and federal officials were looking for Senior Airman James Nicholas Coppock, 25. Unnamed Navy officials in Mississippi identified the 12-year-old as Stephanie Lynn Griffith.
Brittany was taken from a day-care center at the Navy's Construction Battalion Base in Gulfport, apparently by her aunt and Coppock.
"This came out of the clear blue. We have no earthly idea why they would take this little girl," Wydell said.
Wydell said Coppock was declared a deserter after leaving his post in Madrid, Spain. The father of Stephanie Griffith is stationed at a Navy base in Rota, Spain. The two arrived in the United States after Coppock deserted, the agent said.
Investigators said a man using Coppock's identification gained access to the Gulfport base last Wednesday and Thursday.
"We're still trying to find out how they got into the country," Wydell said.
by CNB