Two are in custody today for taking two young children out of Bay County Florida to Milwaukee, Wisconsin without the knowledge of their mother.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of Adalyn Jean Burkett, 18, of Callaway, and Marquan L. Edwards, 22, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for taking the children and their mother’s vehicle.
On June 24, 2023, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the mother of the children reporting that her two children had been taken out of state by a woman she believed to be a friend. The woman had also taken the mother’s vehicle.
The mother told law enforcement she was with the suspect, Adalyn Jean Burkett on the previous night in Callaway. The mother reported that Burkett was supposed to babysit her two children overnight.
The mother also allowed Burkett to use her vehicle for the night with the agreement that Burkett would return the vehicle the morning of June 24th, 2023.
Upon contacting Burkett, the mother learned that she was no longer in Bay County and had left the state with both the vehicle and the two children.
BCSO Criminal Investigations was notified of the incident and efforts to locate the children immediately started. It was learned that Burkett was accompanied by Marquan L. Edwards, 22, from Milwaukee, WI.
Together they had traveled from Panama City, FL, to Milwaukee, WI, during the night of June 23 and into the day of June 24 in the mother’s vehicle with the two children.
Investigative measures confirmed the two to be in Milwaukee.
On the evening of June 24, an arrest warrant was obtained for Burkett for Interference with Child Custody and Grand Theft of an Automobile.
This information was sent to the Milwaukee Police Department that the children and the two suspects were in their city.
A Missing Child Alert was issued by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for DeKarsen Middleton, 2, and Delyla Middleton, 1, on June 25, 2023. This was disseminated through numerous media outlets.
When Burkett and Edwards learned of the Missing Child Alert, the suspects took both children and dropped them off in a public park in a neighborhood of Milwaukee, leaving them alone in a major metropolitan city. Investigators believe Burkett and Edwards wanted to distance themselves from the investigation and possible arrest.
The children were found that evening by Milwaukee PD and taken to their police station. The United States Marshal Service in the Milwaukee area was notified of the investigation and provided additional information on Marquan Edwards.
An arrest warrant was obtained on Edwards for Principal to Interference with Child Custody on June 25, 2023.
On June 26, 2023, members of the United States Marshal Service located and arrested Burkett and Edwards at a residence in Milwaukee on the warrants obtained in the BCSO investigation.
Milwaukee PD advised that they were investigating the defendants for leaving the children alone in the park on the evening of June 25, 2023.
