Police Searching for Missing Child, Mother

Police are looking for Khalieyah Pitts, a 4-month-old Portsmouth girl, and her mother, Tabitha Rantanen, who have been missing since earlier this week after New Hampshire Division of Children, Youth, and Families was issued an emergency custody court order to take care of the child on Feb. 13.

According to police, Pitts and Rantanen were last known to be in Greenfield, MA, where she has family.

“Those family members have been contacted and Khalieyah has still not been located,” according to a post on the Greenfield MA Police Facebook site. “There are concerns regarding Tabitha’s mental health stability, coupled with active substance abuse and the impact these concerns have on her capability to safely care for Khalieyah.”

According to online reports, Rantanen has had a number of run-ins with the law during the past few years.

In October 2008, she was arrested in Portsmouth for DWI, according to Seacoastonline.com. In November 2012, in Somersworth, she was arrested for willful concealment, according to the Foster’s Daily Democrat. Last July, she was arrested for criminal trespass.

Authorities in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts are working together to try and find both Pitts and Rantanen.

Anyone with information is urged to call Seacoast Crime Stoppers at 603-431-1199.