A child who is supposed to be in the Department of Children and Families' custody is missing and her mother and grandmother are considered fugitives who police believe have taken the 8-year-old girl out of Massachusetts.
Kristin Paquette, 32, and her 54-year-old mother, Debra Paquette, were summoned to Newburyport District Court on charges of reckless endangerment of a child after they were found living with Kristin's then 7-year-old daughter Brianna Paquette in deplorable conditions last month in a home on Strong Street in Newburyport that was later condemned.
They did not show up for their arraignments Tuesday morning and the judge issued warrants for their arrests.
DCF filed a missing person report for Brianna Paquette five days ago after an Essex County Probate and Family Court judge ordered that she be remanded to DCF custody earlier this month.
Newburyport Police and the Paquettes' relatives tell necn they believe the girl, her mother and grandmother have been staying at various campgrounds in New Hampshire and Maine.
Police say if they are pulled over, their licenses and registration would be run through their system.
"If they were to be run in Massachusetts or New Hampshire or Maine where we think they might be, a hit would pop up and they would be held at that point. And the mother or the grandmother they would be arrested and the girl would be taken and turned over to DCF," Newburyport Police Lt. Rick Siemasko said.
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Police reports say Brianna, Kristin and Debra Paquette may be driving a blue 2007 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck with New Hampshire license plate 309-3465.
DCF officials said they have reached out to the Paquette family and were notified that they were in New Hampshire.
They say they're working with authorities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to try to track Brianna Paquette down.
Officials say at this point they are not issuing an Amber Alert.
By the time a judge remanded custody of Brianna to DCF earlier this month, she was already living out of state. Even Kristin Paquette's brother says he doesn't know where they are.
"Last time I heard from them was probably, it had to have been close to a couple weeks from now," Justin Paquette said.
He says they stayed with him for a couple of days, but as far as he knows they've been at different campgrounds around New England.
"I know my sister, I know my mother, I know that Brianna's safe," he said. "They're not those type of people who ware, they're not abusive or anything. They're good people, they just needed help with their lifestyle."
