A missing Iowa girl and her mother, who'd taken the child four months before in violation of a custody order, were found on a Maine island off the coast of Portland this week, police said.
The 6-year-old, who was safe, and her mother, 41-year-old Esther Bender, were found on Peaks Island Wednesday. Bender was arrested on a charge of violating a custodial order, according to a statement from the Ames, Iowa, Police Department Thursday.
Bender and the girl left Iowa about Oct. 14 — they hadn't appeared for a custody hearing with the girl's father, leading to a warrant being issued for her arrest, an Ames police representative told NBC affiliate News Center Maine.
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The station obtained records showing that Bender told a relative in a handwritten note that she and her daughter would be gone for about four years and that she would "create a 'beautiful' life for" the girl.
A ferry regularly travels between Peaks Island and nearby Portland. The island has homes, small museums and art galleries, parks and an abandoned fortress.
