Woman arrested in California after her 8 children abducted from foster homes, police say

Eight children were allegedly abducted from their foster homes in Arkansas and driven across the country by their biological mother before being found safe in California, authorities say.

Officers with the Anderson Police Department in Anderson, California, responded to a call around 12:30 a.m. Saturday requesting a welfare check on a group of six children and the woman they were with because the woman was displaying "bizarre behavior."

When officers arrived on scene, they located the woman and children in the parking lot and found them to be associated with a white Dodge pickup truck with Arkansas license plates, police said.

They identified the woman as Trista Fullerton, 36, of Rogers, Arkansas and discovered she had a felony warrant for her arrest for the abduction of eight children.

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Police in Anderson, California arrested a woman for allegedly abducting her eight biological children from their foster homes in Arkansas.
Police in Anderson, California arrested a woman for allegedly abducting her eight biological children from their foster homes in Arkansas.

Biological mother arrested

Police placed Fullerton under arrest and discovered the two other abducted children were at a residence in an area near Anderson called Cottonwood. They were located by the Shasta County Sheriff's Office.

Police conducted a records check on the eight children and found them all to be listed as abducted with protective custody warrants issued for their safety.

They also found out Fullerton was the biological mother of all eight children, but had lost custody of them and had abducted them from their foster placements.

Fullerton was booked into the Shasta County Jail on her Arkansas arrested warrant and the children were released to Shasta County Children and Family Services for reunification with their legal guardians in Arkansas.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arkansas woman arrested in California after 8 children kidnapped