Crime & Safety
New Hampshire Fugitives, Missing Children Found In Tennessee
U.S. Marshals: "Countless" investigatory hours during the last 19 months led to the capture of Michael Williams and Kaitlyn Lee Thursday.
CONCORD, NH — Two New Hampshire fugitives, on the lam for more than a year and half, were captured Thursday in Tennessee, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Michael Williams, 32, and Kaitlyn Lee, 27, and three minor children went missing in October 2018 after a custody fight. The custody of the three children, now 12, 9, and 3, were awarded to another relative.
Warrants were issued for the arrest of Williams on perjury, interference with custody, breach of bail, obstruction of government administration, criminal threatening with a weapon and resisting arrest charges. He was later indicted on the charges. Lee was also wanted and indicted on a perjury charge.
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But then, according to Deputy Marshal Jeffrey White, they disappeared.
The New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force were called into assist in finding the family. White called the hunt for Williams and Lee "a relentless investigation" which included Madbury police, New Hampshire State Police, Carroll and Strafford County Sheriffs, and county attorneys.
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"The leads in this case spanned the eastern half of the United States and beyond, with each lead requiring countless hours of investigation," White said.
During the course of the investigation, marshals in Huntsville, Alabama and Chattanooga, Tennessee, as well as "countless members of their task force," including Lincoln County Sheriffs, found and arrested Lee and Williams on Short Creek Road in Dellrose, TN. The children were also found and are now in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Children's Services.
"They will be held pending their return to their legal guardian as soon as possible," White said.
Lee and Williams are being held in the Lincoln County Jail after being charged as fugitives from justice. They will eventually be returned to the Granite State, White said.
Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the U.S. Marshals Service and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports.
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