LI Mother Charged With Kidnapping 6-Month-Old Daughter: Police

LONG ISLAND, NY — A Shelter Island woman was arrested in Delaware and charged with kidnapping her six-month-old daughter, who lives with her father in Hampton Bays, police said.

According to Southampton Town Police, the infant had been missing since Tuesday; on Thursday, her father reported the child missing and said he believed she was with her mother, Sarah Payne, 34, and was possibly in Wilmington, Delaware.

The baby had been removed from Payne's custody by Suffolk County's child protective services department in January, police said. After searching for hours, and with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Office and the Wilmington Police Department, the infant was found safe with her mother, who is wanted by the Suffolk County probation department, police said.

Southampton Town Police are working with the Suffolk County District Attorney's office and the Delaware District Attorney's office to extradite Payne on charges of second-degree kidnapping, a felony; first-degree custodial interference, a felony; second-degree criminal contempt, a misdemeanor; and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, police said.

The infant is safe and healthy and is currently with Delaware Child Protective Services, police said.