'In the Interest of Justice': State Drops Child Snatching Charge Against Elaine Yates: Updated

WARWICK, RI — Leina L. Waldberg, or Elaine Yates, as she was known 31 years ago, has no more trouble with the law in Rhode Island.

Today, in Kent County Superior Court, state Atty. Gen. Peter Kilmartin dropped the child-snatching charge against her.

Less than a week ago, Yates, 69, had stood in Superior Court where she appeared for her arraignment. She was released on $50,000 personal recognizance, ordered to surrender her passport, and given about two weeks to hire an attorney.

Her story had all the elements of a mystery on Tuesday Jan. 17 when state police sent out a cryptic message they had located two children gone missing 31 years ago and taken the "non-custodial parent" into custody. Details were to follow at an 11:30 a.m. press conference.

Related Story: Alleged RI Child Snatcher Found 31 Years Later with Two Missing Daughters

Then the story began to unfold about a young Warwick woman who fled with her two children, then 10 months and 3 years old. According to the state police, there had been an episode of alleged domestic violence.

Elaine Yates left Rhode Island. She changed her name legally to Leina L Waldberg, and was living in Houston. Her daughters, Kelly and Kimberly, are now grown women with their own families. They also reside in Houston.

Her ex-husband had them declared missing persons, and they stayed missing for three decades. He had made repeated efforts to find them, even at one point suing the children's grandmother, who, he insisted, knew their whereabouts and helped them escape.

She denied all knowledge and went to prison but did not give them up. Then Gov. Edward DiPrete intervened on her behalf, and the judge ultimately allowed her to go on home confinement.

Related Story: Child Snatching Case: Newport Judge Ordered Children's Grandmother to ACI

Yates hired a Newport missing children's organization to help find them and became the custodial parent after he applied for custody and was awarded it because his wife did not show up at the hearing. But there was no sign of Elaine Yates or the girls.

Then, 31 years later and a day or two before Christmas, the Rhode Island State Police received an anonymous tip. The tipster said they were in Houston.

State police used social media accounts and drivers' license information to find them. In January, the police traveled to Houston to verify her identity and bring Yates back to Rhode Island. to face a child-snatching charge, a felony.

"It was law enforcement in Texas, not the Attorney General's Office, that executed the lawfully-issued, court-ordered arrest warrant that brought Ms. Yates back to Rhode Island," Amy Kempe, spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Attorney General's office said today.

The children's father, Raymond Yates, was notified and said he wants to see his daughters. The state police gave them his contact information, but there was no news earlier this week about whether they attempted to speak with him.

In the 31 years since Yates ran away, the laws have changed both about parental rights and about domestic violence. She did not break any laws when she left Rhode Island with the girls in 1985, but the law was changed in 1988 to criminalize parents who take children away from the custodial parent.

Related Story: Child Snatching Case: RI Law Was Changed in 1988 to Criminalize Parents Who Take Their Own Children

The state used that change to seek an arrest affidavit for her in 1988. And until today, the state appeared to be pursuing the charge. When Yates appeared in Kent County Superior Court on one child-snatching charge, she pleaded Not Guilty and was released on personal recognizance.

Related Story: Elaine Yates, Accused of Child Snatching 31 Years Ago, Pleads Not Guilty

After the court appearance, a Domestic Violence organization released a statement about the light the case sheds on the changes in domestic violence laws.

Related Story: Child Snatching Case Illustrates Changes in Domestic Violence Laws

The changes in the law appeared to figure in today's decision.

"After an extensive review of the case, Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin today announced that the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General has filed a notice of dismissal, pursuant to Rule 48a, in the case involving Ms. Elaine Yates (K2-1988-0721A).

"After reviewing all of the evidence in this case, most significantly evidence that was not available or unknown to investigators prior to the discovery and apprehension of Ms. Yates, the laws in effect in 1988, when Ms. Yates left Rhode Island with her two daughters, and the fact that the well-being of the missing children has been established, the charge against Ms. Yates is dismissed in the interest of justice," Kilmartin said.

In response to criticism today from Yates' Providence attorney, Lisa Holley, Amy Kempe, spokeswoman for the Attorney General, made this statement.

"Cases like this are extremely difficult; the context of the era coupled with the societal and statutory enlightenment further complicates the matter," she said. "Whereas it likely could have been resolved without Ms. Yates being taken into custody had she come forward voluntarily, it is quite understandable, given the circumstances known today, why she did not."

Kempe also said it "is apparent that Ms. Holley does not understand the role of the Attorney General's Office. The Attorney General's Office has an obligation and duty to review the facts, applicable statutes, and circumstances related to every criminal case to determine an outcome that is in best interest of justice. That is exactly what was done in this case when it was presented to the Office."

Yates' lawyer has said her client is in danger now that her new identity and location have been revealed.

"Ms. Holley and her client have every right to file a criminal complaint with the appropriate law enforcement agency or seek court protection should her client fear her safety is at risk and we would encourage them to do so," Kempe said. "The proper venue for this to be addressed is with law enforcement and the courts system, not the media."

The Patch will update this story, if additional information becomes available.