Kansas City, MO - U.S. Marshal Mark S. James, Western District of Missouri announced today the recovery of a missing child from Boone County, Missouri in North Carolina.
Jillanne Pagano was charged in the 13th Judicial Circuit for Boone County, MO on May 3, 2018 with one count of felony child abduction following a custody dispute with her minor child’s father who was granted custody of the child on Dec. 2, 2016. The Missouri State Highway Patrol, Division of Drug and Crime Control (DDCC) investigated the case and on April 26, 2019 contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) for assistance. United States Marshals Service investigators assigned to the NCMEC contacted Deputies in the Western District of Missouri who then joined in the investigation to locate the missing child and fugitive mother. Pagano and the child’s whereabouts had been unknown for several years at this point.
Deputy Marshals assisted DDCC investigators over the course of the next month and a half conducting surveillance, interviewing witnesses, sending investigative requests to other USMS offices and following up on leads. Investigators eventually determined that Pagano had likely fled from Missouri to another state with the child.
On June 12, 2019 Missouri State Highway Patrol Troopers and Deputy Marshals developed information that Pagano and the minor child were possibly in Murphy, North Carolina. Sheriff’s Deputies from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina responded to the location and observed PAGANO and the minor child exiting the residence, taking the mother into custody while the minor child was cared for by the Cherokee County Department of Social Services.
The U.S. Marshals Midwest Violent Fugitive Task Force-Kansas City division, operates in conjunction with members of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department, Independence Missouri Police Department, FBI, ATF and other state and federal law enforcement partners. The task force objectives are to seek out and arrest fugitives charged with violent crimes, drug offenses, sex offenders and other serious felonies as well as the investigation and recovery of missing and exploited children. Nationally the United States Marshals Service fugitive programs are carried out with local law enforcement in 94 district offices, 85 local fugitive task forces, 7 regional task forces, as well as a growing network of offices in foreign countries.
Tips can be submitted to the U.S. Marshals service directly and anonymously by downloading the USMS Tips app to your Apple or Android device. It can also be accessed online at https://www.usmarshals.gov/tips/index.html. Follow the latest news and updates about the U.S. Marshals Service on Twitter: @USMarshalsHQ
