Alleged RI Child Snatcher Found 31 Years Later With 2 Missing Daughters

CRANSTON, RI — In 1985, Kelly Yates was 10 months old. Her sister Kimberly was 3-1/2. When the girls and their mother Elaine disappeared in August, they became the subject of a high-profile search.

The girls' father, Russell, filed a missing persons report in August of that year. Ultimately, state police issued an arrest warrant for Elaine. She was charged with child snatching.

But Yates and the two daughters had disappeared.

Then in December of 2016, state police received the tip that Elaine and the children, now grown women, were living in Houston.

State police traveled to Texas and on Monday arrested Elaine Yates, formerly of Warwick. She was living under the alias Leina L. Waldberg. She waived extradition and will appear in court in Rhode Island on Wednesday to face child snatching charges from 1985.

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Col. Ann C. Assumpico, superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police and director of the Department of Public Safety, and members of the Office of the Attorney General, announced the arrest at a press conference this morning.

Yates, the missing children's mother, was described as a non-custodial parent.

"Kelly Yates and her sister Kimberly were allegedly abducted by their non-custodial mother, Elaine Carolyn Yates," state police said. "A felony warrant for Child Snatching was issued for her on Nov. 16, 1988. Ms. Elaine Yates and her two daughters have been missing since the initial missing persons report of August 1985."

State police also said "based upon the initial investigation, it is believed that Mrs. Yates left home with the couple’s children due to a domestic dispute."

Yates was arraigned in Houston and will be arraigned in Kent County Superior Court Wednesday.

Photo Captions: Elaine, Kelly, and Kimberly Yates

Courtesy Photos from National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (Computer age-advanced)