Ohio woman arrested near Cedar City for alleged kidnapping of at least one child
CORRECTION: The original probable cause document named the Ohio town as Bretford Heights. It is actually Bedford Heights.
CEDAR CITY (ABC4) — An Ohio woman was arrested by Cedar City Police Sunday evening, Dec. 24, as she was traveling through the state with drugs, a gun, and six children — at least one of whom had been reported missing.
Shari Dolores Gould, 32, had been tracked by a police department in Ohio to Southern Utah, according to a probable cause document. Officials from Bedford Heights, Ohio, contacted Cedar City Police to let them know Gould was traveling south on Interstate 15 and warned that she was allegedly traveling with a four-month-old child who “did not belong to her.” Ohio officers said Gould had refused to return the child to her mother. Officers were also trying to ping Gould’s cell phone. Gould was also allegedly driving with a suspended license.
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At around 6:45 p.m., Cedar City Police confirmed Gould’s license plate and pulled her over along I-15. The officer found not one child, but a total of six, all ages 13 or younger.
The court documents state police found a .22-caliber pistol, marijuana, and cocaine all in the vehicle with the children. One of the two baggies of cocaine found was within the children’s reach, police said.
“During the investigation, the 13-year-old child told us that the suspect had presented the firearm to them and would actively smoke marijuana in the vehicle with them while she was driving,” stated the document. Gould allegedly told police she did not have a license for medical marijuana. She later tested positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, via a mouth swab, police said. She told police she had smoked out of a THC pen approximately three hours before being pulled over.
The pistol, meanwhile, had a round in the chamber but had a trigger lock on it. Because the gun was found with drugs in a car with children, Gould is considered a “Category 2 restricted person” in Utah, meaning additional charges against her.
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Gould was booked into the Iron County Jail on six charges of felony child endangerment, three charges of failure to buckle up children between the ages of 8 and 16, one charge of driving with a suspended license, one charge of possession of marijuana, one charge of possession of cocaine, one count of driving with a controlled substance and one charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted person.
The probable cause statement also said Gould likely faces further kidnapping charges in Ohio, though final approval from a judge was still pending as of Sunday. Gould does not appear to have any ties to Utah.
It was not made clear what relationships, if any, the six children have with one another or with Gould. Bedford Heights officers only mentioned one child in their original conversations with Cedar City Police, according to court documents. It was also not made clear how Gould is related to the four-month-old.
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