SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Two women are charged in connection to three missing Springfield boys.
Brittany Barnes, and her wife, Ceairah Beverly, are charged with three counts of Felony Interference with Custody.
According to court reports, the children were under the guardianship of their grandmother, Audrey Beverly, when Brittany Barnes and Ceairah Beverly picked the 3 boys up for an unsupervised visit on March 23rd.
The children’s grandmother, Audrey Beverly, had a verbal agreement that the two women would take the boys to their scheduled court appearance set for that day, but when neither the children nor the women arrived, the court attempted to contact them and find out where they were.
Court documents said Audrey Beverly is the custodial guardian of the children.
Court documents show the children were removed from Barnes’ and Beverly’s custody in January after allegations of drug use, criminal activity by the parents, lack of supervision, and lack of school attendance.
According to Missouri State Highway Patrol, on Thursday, March 31, the children’s EBT/food stamp cards were used at a WalMart in Queen Creek, Arizona.
Ceairah is a white woman, who is 30, 5’2″, and 170 pounds. Beverly has brown hair and brown eyes. Brittany Barnes is a 30-year-old white female with brown hair, and blue eyes, and weighs 130 pounds.
Ryder Green, 10, Resean Green, 9, and Ramello Green, 8, are believed to be in the Tucson, Arizona area, where Barnes’ mother, Shelby Tackett-Barnes, lives.
Below are descriptions of the three missing children:
- Ramello, 8, is a black male, 4’3” tall, 74 pounds with brown hair and eyes.
- Resean, 9, is a black male, 4’4” tall, 77 pounds with brown hair and eyes.
- Ryder, 10, is a black male, 4’9” 116 pounds with brown hair and eyes.
Tackett-Barnes initially cooperated with police and said she knew what hotel Barnes and the children were staying in. However, court documents show when she discovered the children would be brought back to Greene County and placed into state custody, she refused to say where the children were.
On April 6, police made contact with Tackett-Barnes and attempted to facilitate the surrender of the children, but police said she responded by saying she did not know where the children were and that she had limited contact with her daughter.
Tackett-Barnes later said the children were no longer in Arizona and that Barnes had hired an attorney to “sue everyone for taking her kids,” according to police reports.
Tackett-Barnes said her daughter had not broken any laws and therefore didn’t need to disclose her location. She also indicated that her daughter was now an Arizona resident, so she may still be in the state.
Arizona authorities and local FBI partners are helping with the case.
Anyone with information is asked to immediately dial 911 to contact the nearest law enforcement agency or call the Springfield Police Department at 417-864-1810.
