Woman arrested after alleged child abduction

A Libby woman who sparked a multistate search after allegedly abducting her grandson last week was arrested in Missoula over the weekend.

Rebecca Ruth Olney, 54, faces a single charge of custodial interference after her daughter alleged Olney vanished with her 12-year-old son on April 16. Her bond was set at $25,000 in Lincoln County Justice Court on April 20.

Authorities began looking for Olney after her daughter alerted them to the missing pair when they failed to show up for dinner April 16.

Olney’s daughter told Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputies that the pair had spent the week together shopping in the area. She said she instructed the 54-year-old to stay in town while with the child and keep in contact via mobile phone.

According to an affidavit written by Undersheriff Brad Dodson, the pair left the county on April 17 likely after spending the night in Olney’s car, which was parked off state Highway 56.

Her daughter attempted to contact Olney via Facebook Messenger and it appeared as though the older woman was receiving the messages until about 1 p.m., April 17, Dodson wrote.

Local authorities pinged Olney’s phone numbers — she had four and the child had one, officials said — but the devices had been shut off, according to the telephone companies.

By April 18, the Montana Department of Justice had issued a missing endangered person alert for the 12-year-old. Working on information that Olney had contacted people in New York, New Hampshire and Washington state, authorities launched a nationwide effort to track the pair down.

Authorities learned the two were spotted in Sanders County. Olney was seen examining a map of Washington.

That same day, police officers in Missoula located the pair checking in at a hotel there. According to Dodson’s affidavit, a witness spotted the minor try to disconnect the battery from Olney’s vehicle.

Officers turned the 12-year-old over to the custody of his mother and handed Olney to deputies from Lincoln County, Dodson wrote.

During a subsequent interview, Olney confirmed she knew her daughter did not want the 12-year-old leaving Libby and wanted the pair in cell phone contact. She told authorities she planned to return the child by Sunday.

Investigators found a video Olney had made with the child wherein she is recorded as saying “We are gonna go on a road trip,” and “We’re gonna go on a ride around the United States.”

In the video, Olney made other comments to the effect that she was “done” with her daughter and her daughter’s husband, Dodson wrote in the affidavit.

Olney told authorities that she did receive a message from her daughter regarding returning the 12-year-old and a warning that an Amber Alert was going out. Olney allegedly told investigators she did not receive an Amber Alert on her phone. She also told authorities she could not charge her phone, Dodson wrote.

Dodson recalled Olney saying several times that the road trip was the 12-year-old’s idea. The minor requested the mobile devices be turned off so the two could not be tracked, she said, according to the affidavit.

Olney also said she was “fearful” of the child’s father, claiming she worried he would hurt her.

According to a press release issued by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the case remains under investigation.