{"id":87264,"date":"2025-12-17T22:24:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T22:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/87264\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T22:24:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T22:24:09","slug":"who-is-debra-newton-florida-mom-arrested-for-kidnapping-daughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/87264\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Debra Newton? Florida mom arrested for kidnapping daughter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Investigators Investigators on finding missing children decades later<\/a> <\/p>\n

A woman accused of kidnapping her young daughter more than 40 years ago in Kentucky has been arrested in Central Florida after living under a different name for decades, authorities said. Officials emphasized the importance of public tips in long-term missing persons cases, noting that continued attention can lead to resolutions even decades later.<\/p>\n

MARION COUNTY, Fla. – A 40-year missing child case came to an end after the mother of a missing girl was arrested in Ocala’s The Villages on Monday. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office arrested the mom, who had been living in a new state, with a different husband and a new name.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Debra Newton was arrested on Dec. 15 in The Villages after she was stopped by deputies at her front yard walking her dog. Newton’s neighbor was seen on body camera joking that deputies were there for Newton, who was called “Sharon.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deputies confirmed they were there to arrest “Sharon” who appeared confused about the situation, even telling her husband that she didn’t know why she was being arrested.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Debra Newton, 66, was arrested for a 40-year case connected to kidnapping.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Who is Debra Newton?\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Debra Newton, 67, is connected to a 42-year-old case involving her missing daughter, Michelle Newton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On April 2, 1983, Debra claimed she was relocating to Georgia for a new job and to prepare a new home for their family, including Michelle and Debra’s husband, Joseph Newton. However, after a final phone call between Debra and Joseph, both the mom and daughter vanished<\/a>, the Jefferson County Sheriff\u2019s Office out of Louisville, Ky reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Debra was indicted for custodial interference and was wanted on an FBI Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution. At one point, Debra was on the FBI’s Top 8 Most Wanted parental-kidnapping fugitives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s not known what prompted Debra to leave her husband and their home. It’s also not known when Debra moved to Florida or remarried. Jefferson County deputies were notified through a Crime Stoppers tip that a woman resembling Debra was living in The Villages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Newton was extradited to Kentucky, where she faces a custodial interference felony offense, which carries no statute of limitations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Michelle, her father and the Newton family were present in court, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Michelle Newton and her father Joseph Newton were reunited after Michelle was reported missing over 40 years ago.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Reunited with her lost family <\/p>\n

During this time, Michelle \u2013 who had also been living under a different identity and not in Kentucky \u2013 learned that she was Michelle Newton, who was reported missing in 1983. The sheriff’s office said Michelle contacted their office as an adult. They facilitated reuniting her with her father and extended family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“She told us she didn\u2019t realize she was a victim until she saw everything she had missed,” Col. Healey of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Missing for 42 years <\/p>\n

One year ago \u2013 on Michelle’s 45th birthday \u2013 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children posted a photo to its Facebook page looking for information about Michelle’s whereabouts. At this point, she had been missing for 41 years. The organization a picture of 3-year-old Michelle \u2013 the age she was when she was reported missing \u2013 and an aged-up photo of Michelle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They never gave up trying to raise awareness about Michelle’s disappearance, something John Bischoff at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said is important in cases such as this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The worst thing that anyone can do is stop searching because these kids need to be found, they\u2019re out there,” Bischoff said while speaking with FOX 35’s Marie Edinger.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bischoff called the Crime Stoppers tip about Debra a “breakthrough.”<\/p>\n

The tip \u2013 which identified a possible match for a 66-year-old woman using a different name \u2013 allowed law enforcement to compare a recent photo of Debra to a 1983 image of her. DNA from Debra’s sister was also a 99% match to the Florida suspect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We’re overjoyed that this family is once again reunited. And it’s what we live for each and every day that we come to work,” Bischoff said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said the case only advanced because of one, crucial call.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“People think calling in tips is \u2018snitching.\u2019 It isn\u2019t,” Healey said. “You\u2019re helping victims. You\u2019re helping families. This case proves that one phone call can change a life.”<\/p>\n

The Source: Information in this story was sourced from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Louisville, KY and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Crime and Public Safety<\/a>Missing Persons<\/a>Viral<\/a>Florida News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Investigators on finding missing children decades later A woman accused of kidnapping her young daughter more than 40…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[630,47,28,30,29,6888,115,628,8065],"class_list":{"0":"post-87264","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-crime-publicsafety","9":"tag-fl","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-florida-headlines","12":"tag-florida-news","13":"tag-missing-persons","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-viral"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}