She spent five years on the run, but now investigators have caught up with a woman wanted for kidnapping and they found her in our area.
The kidnapping got national attention on the television show "America's Most Wanted." Five years ago the woman took off with her four year old daughter from California. Tuesday night police in Scranton found the woman and the girl.
Scranton police say they got a tip that they could find the woman at a pizza shop. It turns out the woman has been living and working in Scranton for at least a year. Stephanie Sims, of Sacramento California, is now locked up in Scranton.
She's accused of kidnapping her daughter, Isabella, in 1998. She did not have legal custody of the girl, who is now nine. The television show "America's Most Wanted" once featured the case and still has pictures from the show on it's web site.
Police said while Sims was on the run she escaped from officers several times, and even ran from the FBI in Detroit. Police tell us a tip lead them to a pizza shop in Scranton where Sims worked for a year, often bringing Isabella with her.
Police found the pair living in an apartment on North Main Avenue. Newswatch 16 has learned Isabella is already on her way back to California. That's also where Stephanie Sims will go to face kidnapping charges.
