Mother, 26, charged with kidnapping

YOUNGSTOWN -- A 26-year-old South Side woman has been charged with two counts of kidnapping after investigators with the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department found that her two daughters were living with her, a violation of a court order that gives custody to the girls' Brookfield uncle, police said.
The Hillman Street woman, arrested Saturday, also has been charged with more than 20 counts of interference with custody and two counts of obstruction of official business.
Alleges abuse: She told investigators that she had taken the girls, ages 6 and 8, from the uncle Nov. 23 during a visit to Brookfield when the uncle allowed her to take them to a park, police reports show. She said she suspected the uncle of abusing the children and had photographs of a bruise to the younger girl's buttocks. The children were placed in the custody of the county's children services pending an investigation.
Detectives from the sheriff's department had been to the woman's home Friday. There, they apprehended a 14-year-old girl who had run away from a group home on Oakwood Avenue, reports show. The detectives saw two other girls there at the time but were unable to identify them.
The detectives returned Saturday and were let into the home by the suspect's sister. The suspect and her daughters were found hiding in the basement.