Missing girl found in Oklahoma
Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2004 9:32 am
By APRIL KINSER / WFAA.com
Aided by a tip from her mother, police found a missing Mesquite girl safe at an Oklahoma City motel early today after her stepfather apparently shot himself.
Shortly after midnight, James Hudacheck, 28, called his wife, Angela Hudacheck, from a Quality Inn and “told her she had three hours to get to Oklahoma City if she wanted Jami back,” Mesquite police Sgt. Shannon Greenhaw said.
James Hudachek and his stepdaughter, 12-year-old Jami Hicks, have been missing since the evening of Sept. 3. Police and family members believe he may have abducted Jami because he was obsessed with her and wanted her for his wife.
Angela Hudachek reported the early morning call to Mesquite police, who contacted the Oklahoma City Police Department. Working with limited information, the police found James Hudachek at a Quality Inn, registered under his own name, sometime between 12:30 and 2 a.m., Greenhaw said.
As officers tried to make contact with Hudachek, they heard a gunshot.
A few minutes later, Jami emerged from the room unharmed.
"This is really sad," Angela Hudacheck sobbed after reaching Oklahoma City. "Panic and anxiety, you know – and fear. Every kind of emotion you can imagine, I was feeling."
Jami would be returning to Mesquite with police, who will turn her over to Child Protective Services, Greenhaw said.
CPS has alleged that Angela Hudachek did not do enough to protect Jami and her twin 9-year-old half brothers. The agency has filed for custody.
Angela Hudachek has acknowledged to CPS that she caught her husband looking at teen stuff and that Jami once told her he touched her inappropriately.
James Hudachek was airlifted to Oklahoma University Medical Center, Oklahoma City officer Felisha Williams said. Greenhaw said he was in critical condition.
Mesquite police still were investigating and had not decided on charges. But at the minimum, Greenhaw said, Hudachek would face one count of kidnapping.
“Our goal has been to get Jami home safe, and that’s what we’re doing,” Greenhaw said. “Of course, we regret any injury or any loss of life. "
Jami’s birth father, Sanford Hicks of Elk City, Okla., said he learned his missing daughter was only an hour and half away when reporters called him at 3 a.m.
“I started driving to Oklahoma City but when I stopped in Meridian to call police they said she wouldn’t be released to any family, just CPS. They wouldn’t tell me where she was or where all this happened,” he said.
He said he had wanted his daughter to see family immediately and know someone was there for her after her ordeal.
“I would have gotten a speeding ticket,” he said. “I could have been the first person she saw instead of police. Even if I wouldn’t have gotten to talk to her she could have seen I was there.”
Hicks, who has said Jami was a baby when he and Angela separated, said he has called CPS and plans to fight for custody if the girl is taken from her mother.
“Right now, I just want to make sure she’s all right and in safe hands,” he said. “I just want Jami safe.”
Dallas Web Staff writer Kimberly Durnan, WFAA-TV and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Aided by a tip from her mother, police found a missing Mesquite girl safe at an Oklahoma City motel early today after her stepfather apparently shot himself.
Shortly after midnight, James Hudacheck, 28, called his wife, Angela Hudacheck, from a Quality Inn and “told her she had three hours to get to Oklahoma City if she wanted Jami back,” Mesquite police Sgt. Shannon Greenhaw said.
James Hudachek and his stepdaughter, 12-year-old Jami Hicks, have been missing since the evening of Sept. 3. Police and family members believe he may have abducted Jami because he was obsessed with her and wanted her for his wife.
Angela Hudachek reported the early morning call to Mesquite police, who contacted the Oklahoma City Police Department. Working with limited information, the police found James Hudachek at a Quality Inn, registered under his own name, sometime between 12:30 and 2 a.m., Greenhaw said.
As officers tried to make contact with Hudachek, they heard a gunshot.
A few minutes later, Jami emerged from the room unharmed.
"This is really sad," Angela Hudacheck sobbed after reaching Oklahoma City. "Panic and anxiety, you know – and fear. Every kind of emotion you can imagine, I was feeling."
Jami would be returning to Mesquite with police, who will turn her over to Child Protective Services, Greenhaw said.
CPS has alleged that Angela Hudachek did not do enough to protect Jami and her twin 9-year-old half brothers. The agency has filed for custody.
Angela Hudachek has acknowledged to CPS that she caught her husband looking at teen stuff and that Jami once told her he touched her inappropriately.
James Hudachek was airlifted to Oklahoma University Medical Center, Oklahoma City officer Felisha Williams said. Greenhaw said he was in critical condition.
Mesquite police still were investigating and had not decided on charges. But at the minimum, Greenhaw said, Hudachek would face one count of kidnapping.
“Our goal has been to get Jami home safe, and that’s what we’re doing,” Greenhaw said. “Of course, we regret any injury or any loss of life. "
Jami’s birth father, Sanford Hicks of Elk City, Okla., said he learned his missing daughter was only an hour and half away when reporters called him at 3 a.m.
“I started driving to Oklahoma City but when I stopped in Meridian to call police they said she wouldn’t be released to any family, just CPS. They wouldn’t tell me where she was or where all this happened,” he said.
He said he had wanted his daughter to see family immediately and know someone was there for her after her ordeal.
“I would have gotten a speeding ticket,” he said. “I could have been the first person she saw instead of police. Even if I wouldn’t have gotten to talk to her she could have seen I was there.”
Hicks, who has said Jami was a baby when he and Angela separated, said he has called CPS and plans to fight for custody if the girl is taken from her mother.
“Right now, I just want to make sure she’s all right and in safe hands,” he said. “I just want Jami safe.”
Dallas Web Staff writer Kimberly Durnan, WFAA-TV and the Associated Press contributed to this report.