The McKinney Police Department in Texas canceled an Amber Alert for two young sisters who were missing for three days, after they were found on Sunday, January 22.
The two sisters, Jessica Burns, 9, and Jennifer Burns, 6, were kidnapped on Thursday night. Police announced on Sunday night that they had found the girls safe and sound and had placed their grandmother, who allegedly kidnapped them, in custody.
McKinney Police released a statement on Twitter shortly after the girls were found, announcing the good news.
The girl’s grandmother, 60-year-old Jame Burns, was taken into custody in Richardson on Sunday, and is now facing two counts of kidnapping.
During a press conference on Friday morning, McKinney police said that the girls went missing during a visit with their father on Thursday, January 19. The Department of Public Safety in Texas issued an Amber Alert that morning.
An official from Child Protective Services, which has temporary custody over the girls, was overseeing a visit between the girls and their father, Justin Burns, 34, at a pizza restaurant near Virginia Parkway and Central Expressway when they were kidnapped at around 6 pm.
Public Information Officer at the McKinney Police Department, Carla Marion Reeves, said at the Friday news conference that authorities believed the girls were taken by their paternal grandmother and their father was also involved in their abduction.
According to the police, the CPS worker called 911 when the grandmother showed up at the restaurant’s parking lot and took the girls away.
The girl’s father was still at the restaurant when responding officers arrived. Officers arrested the 35-year-old man and charged him with two counts of kidnapping for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping.
Police took him to the Collin County Jail, where he is held on $100,000 bond.
The grandmother had a few run-ins with the police in the past. Her criminal record shows that in September 2021, Jame was arrested by police for child endangerment and being in possession of methamphetamine.
Officers from Allen Police Department received a 911 call about a possible disturbance that involved methamphetamines at Jame’s home. According to an arrest affidavit, Jame lived in the house with the two girls and their sister. Their father, Justin, also lived at the house.
When responding officers arrived, Jame tried to drive away with the girls in her car, but the officers stopped her. Police later searched her car and found drugs hidden in the rear passenger floorboards.
Court records show that the 60-year-old was scheduled to appear in court on Friday, January 20, on the child endangerment and drug possession charges from the 2021 incident, but she did not show up.
Jame was also accused of a home burglary in 2005 and fraud in Florida.