Wyoming Rescue Mission Worker Calls in Amber Alert Kidnapper
A Wyoming Rescue Mission employee tipped off the Casper Police Department last week about a Colorado man identified in an Amber Alert notification who kidnapped his son, according to a department news release.
On Friday evening, Laura Moore called police about her concerns about two males -- an adult and juvenile -- who wanted to stay for the night.
Moore recognized them from a Nov. 9 Amber Alert notification from the Denver Metro Police Department.
Get our free mobile app
The Amber Alert said Coloradoan Anwar Rhodes, 39, had kidnapped his one-year-old son from the mother. Rhodes was considered a non-custodial parent at the time of the abduction, according to the release.
Casper police officers positively identified Rhodes from the Amber Alert, and they took him into custody and charged him, according to the news release.
The one-year-old boy has since been returned safely to the mother, according to the news release.
Monday, Rhodes appeared during initial hearings in Natrona County Circuit Court.
Patchen told Rhodes that he had the option of either waiving extradition, meaning law enforcement from Colorado soon would come to Casper to retrieve him, or he could wait -- possibly for a month or more -- for an identification hearing in court that would prove that he was the person authorities sought.
Rhodes chose the quicker option. "I would like to be extradited," he said.
Denver law enforcement requested that he be held without bond.
Anwar Rhodes. Tom Morton, Townsquare Media
"The Casper Police Department would like to thank the Wyoming Rescue Mission staff for their attention to detail and immediate call for assistance in this matter. Additionally, the Casper Police Department would like to thank the Denver Metro Police Department for their rapid response to facilitate the reunification of the child with his mother," the Department's news release said.
For more details regarding the Amber Alert system: https://amberalert.ojp.gov/