ROSS COUNTY, Ohio — On March 2nd, Ross County authorities received a report of possible custodial interference. The complainant claimed her friend had taken her seven-year-old daughter to Pickaway County and was refusing to bring her back.
The woman told deputies that she initially arranged for her daughter to spend the weekend with her friend in Pickaway County, but she changed her mind and wanted her daughter back. When the friend reportedly refused to drive the child back to Chillicothe, the mother sent another friend to pick up the child, but he was allegedly shot at when he arrived at the house to get the child.
Upon arriving at the scene, deputies discovered that the child was safe inside the home and had never been in danger. The mother’s friend, along with three others, explained to the authorities the mother knew exactly where her daughter was and was trying to get them into trouble.
After investigating, authorities discovered that the child’s mother’s friend was not refusing to give the child back but was simply refusing to drive her back to Chillicothe since she had just arrived home from picking her up.
The Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office was also involved in the investigation into the reported shooting but found that the mother’s male friend had left the area before they arrived. The child was later transported back to her mother.
One deputy, reports say, advised the mother to reconsider who she allowed caring for her daughter and who she allows around her daughter in general. In the end, the incident was a custodial dispute, and no one was charged in the case.
