Eugene mother jailed, accused of taking baby from father at DRW home

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A Eugene woman whose infant son was taken from her due to child neglect allegations traveled to a home in Deschutes River Woods, wrestled the baby from his father and fled, prompting a statewide alert, but was found with the child and arrested in the Eugene area early Sunday, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

Amber Joy Skeele, 30, was brought back to Bend and lodged in the Deschutes County Jail on first-degree charges of custodial interference and burglary. She also was held without bail on a contempt of court charge. A second woman who assisted in taking the child also could face charges, Sgt. James McLaughlin said.

Deputies were dispatched around 8:45 p.m. to a reported domestic dispute in progress at a home on Shoshone Road, south of Bend, McLaughlin said. While en route, deputies learned that two women had engaged in a physical struggle with the infant’s father and fled the home with the 2 ½-month-old boy.

Deputies soon learned Skeele was the child’s mother and that the Oregon Department of Human Services had removed the infant from her care, placing him with his father, due to a recent arrest involving child neglect, which is still under investigation, according to the sergeant.

Deputies conducted an extensive search of the region for the women and their vehicle, a black Lexus SUV. Skeele was reported to be from the Eugene area, but McLaughlin said deputies had other information that she might travel east to Idaho.

“Deschutes County issued a statewide all-points bulletin broadcast in an attempt to locate the vehicle, for the safety of the child,” McLaughlin said in a news release.

Around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, a Lane County sheriff’s deputy and Oregon State Police trooper found the SUV in the Eugene area, occupied by both women and the child.

Skeele was arrested and the child was returned safely to his father. Information on possible criminal charges for the other woman will be forwarded to the district attorney for review, the sergeant said.

“Numerous investigative techniques were used to locate the child,” McLaughlin said.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division was assisted detectives, 911 and the district attorney’s office, as well as OSP, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, Sunriver and Eugene police, Lane County DHS and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.