The Lead Off
- A 3-month-old baby was safely recovered Tuesday after police say the child was abducted from a Marshall County neighborhood.
- Investigators tracked the suspect vehicle from Marshall County to Merrillville in Lake County before taking a woman into custody.
- Bobbi Jo Noviak, 45, faces kidnapping and criminal confinement charges following the investigation.
Infant safely recovered after reported Marshall County abduction
PLYMOUTH, Ind. (WOWO) A 3-month-old baby was safely recovered Tuesday after a reported abduction in Marshall County led to a multi-agency police response that crossed county lines into Lake County.
Police said the child was located unharmed and the suspect, identified as 45-year-old Bobbi Jo Noviak, was taken into custody.
Noviak has been charged with kidnapping, a Level 5 felony, and criminal confinement, also a Level 5 felony according to WSBT.
Police respond to reported abduction
The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department received a call shortly before noon Tuesday reporting a child abduction on Del Lo Me Lane, east of Plymouth.
Officers from multiple agencies responded to the neighborhood as investigators worked to locate the suspect and the child.
Police said the suspect had left Marshall County, leading the investigation into another county.
Search continues into Lake County
About an hour after the initial report, Merrillville police reported that a suspect had been taken into custody.
According to Merrillville Police, a vehicle connected to the reported abduction was detected in their area through a Flock license plate reader.
Authorities used information from the vehicle search to assist in locating the suspect.
License plate reader and camera footage assist investigation
A nearby resident told WSBT that home security cameras captured the vehicle’s license plate information that helped investigators.
“There was a lot of them over here. There’s probably eight or ten or twelve police cars out there and state police and other guys with white shirts and ties. The officer stopped over about, well, before noon in the afternoon and went in, asked if we had cameras. And we have about 14 more in the house. They saved the footage, screenshots and everything. And that’s how they identified the car was from our camera footage,” the neighbor said.
Police said the coordinated response led to the safe recovery of the infant and the arrest of Noviak.
Investigation remains active
Some neighbors in the Marshall County area said they were shaken by the incident and said they had previously seen police activity in the area.
“Nobody in this neighborhood is surprised, I can tell you that. I think there’s a lot of issues over there for children, real quick. And there’s a lot of issues over there,” one anonymous neighbor said.
The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department said additional information about the case is expected to be released Wednesday.
The Takeaway
- A 3-month-old infant was safely recovered after police investigated a reported abduction in Marshall County and tracked the suspect into Lake County.
- Authorities said Bobbi Jo Noviak, 45, was arrested and charged with kidnapping and criminal confinement.
- Investigators used information from multiple agencies, including Merrillville Police and a Flock license plate reader alert, during the search for the suspect vehicle.
