LIBERTY, Mo. — A Liberty, Missouri, woman who was on the run with two kids is now in a Texas jail after being picked up by authorities when she tried to cross into Mexico.
Maggie Deigh, 42, was reported missing with her daughters Riley Reed, 4, and Bethany Bednar, 16, after Deigh didn’t return Riley Reed to her ex-husband following a weekend visitation on December 9th.
According to authorities, Deigh was arrested in the border town of Roma, Texas, on Tuesday after she was turned around by Mexican authorities when she couldn’t produce sufficient documentation to cross the border into Mexico. When Deigh and the two girls re-entered, Customs and Border Protection officers recognized Deigh’s car and, according to court documents, found her to be in possession of what was described as a “crack pipe” or “meth pipe.”
The two girls were placed in Texas Child Protective Services custody until their fathers could arrive to pick them up.
“This was a great example of how CBP encounters fugitives wanted by law-enforcement agencies through our ability to query everyone seeking entry into the United States,” said Cris Cantu, Port Director, Roma Port of Entry, in a statement.
Deigh’s ex-husband, Don Reed – along with his neice Shelbi Rowland – took an early-morning flight from Kansas City to Texas to get his daughter, Riley Reed.
“It was fantastic I can’t describe the feeling,” said Don Reed, who has primary custody of his daughter. He says that it took Liberty Police five days to upgrade the case into a missing persons case after he says that they initially dismissed the disappearance as a civil matter.
“All of my friends on Facebook and my family, everybody that came together to put pressure on the police, put pressure on the prosecutors office. I don’t thing they would have done anything if it hadn’t been for all the the public pressure and your station as well,” Don Reed told FOX 4.
Don Reed emailed video to FOX 4 on Wednesday afternoon of him being reunited with his daughter.
Dan Bednar, father of Bethany Bednar, told FOX 4 by phone that he is en route to Texas by car, and should be reunited with his daughter on Wednesday evening.
Maggie Deigh is currently in custody in the Starr County Jail in Rio Grande City, Texas, where she awaits extradition. Clay County authorities have charged her with a felony count of parental interference and a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a minor.
