5-year-old missing for months found safe in Cleveland

CLEVELAND (WJW) – U.S. Marshals in Cleveland announced Wednesday their officers recovered a 5-year-old child who was missing from Virginia.

According to a press release, the child was taken by a non-custodial parent in Yorktown, Virginia , on May 1.

Law enforcement in Virginia were able to identify a potential Cleveland location.

The U.S. Marshals Missing Child Unit found the child and arrested the non-custodial parent in the 14400 block of Cedar Road on Tuesday, according to a press release.

Ashlee Benneson, 31, faces charges of parental abduction. Benneson was booked in the Cuyahoga County jail.

She was living in Newport News, Virginia and is being extradited back there. Her name appears in municipal court records in Cleveland for a landlord eviction in 2012, but investigators are still determining her current connection to the area.

The child is in the custody of the Department of Family Services until the child can be reunited with the custodial parent.

Anne Murphy, Assistant Chief Northern District of Ohio U.S. Marshals Service, says multiple agencies began coordinating efforts to find the child soon after they were reported missing, and in any missing or child abduction case time is of the utmost importance.

“The speed of these cases is important because things can change so quickly. Kids are little and they don’t have the capacity to take care of themselves,” said Murphy.

At this time, no one else has been arrested or charged in connection with the abduction.

“The safety of children is a highest priority for us, and we are happy to recover this child and reunite them with their custodial parent,” U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said in a press release.

Anyone with information concerning a wanted fugitive can contact the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at 1-866-4WANTED or 1-866-492-6833.

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