Woman kidnaps her children, poses as dad for three years

A mother who kidnapped her own children then lived as a man to persuade people that she was their father is facing a lengthy jail sentence.

When Shellie Karnes was taken into custody by US marshals after three years on the run, her tearful eight-year-old daughter demanded: 'Why are they arresting my daddy?'

The bizarre child-snatching case was finally solved after a tip-off led police to an apartment in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, where they found Karnes, 30, living with another woman and her own two children Erica, eight, and Dusty, six.

'They arrested a man and woman, but as it turns out the 'man' was impersonating a man but was the mother of the children,' said Charles Reavis, US Marshal for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

The extraordinary case began in the summer of 2003 when Karnes snatched the children from their father's house in Globe, a small mining town in Arizona. After spending time in Virginia and Connecticut, she took them more than 2,800km from their home to Roanoke Rapids, the home of a woman with whom she had established a relationship over the internet.

'She turned the tables on me,' said Ernest Karnes, the husband. 'I just want to see them and hug them and love them and be with them.'

After two years of fruitless searching, including passing out thousands of leaflets at local schools, Mr Karnes and new wife Melissa turned to a missing persons' website and gave descriptions of his children, who have blond hair and blue eyes.

A debt collector who was visiting the women's apartment several weeks ago became suspicious and alerted authorities. Detectives linked the children to the missing persons report from Arizona.

Shellie Karnes, also known by her maiden name of White, is expected to face kidnapping charges in Arizona. The woman arrested with her was released but could still be charged as an accomplice.

'I haven't lived the life of someone on the run,' Karnes said from her cell, where she is being held on a US$1 million bond.

'I never knew I was on the run. I did not steal my children. I have court papers saying I have custody. When I left Arizona in 2003, I told Ernie. He told me, 'No problem',' Karnes said.

Arizona detective Johnny Holmes said the terms of the divorce were clear - Ernest Karnes had custody of the children and his wife had visiting rights.