Authorities say that an Arkansas mother staged a fake kidnapping of her developmentally disabled daughter.
She and three others were arrested for taking part in this chilling alleged conspiracy.
Tamara Hamby’s daughter is now in the care of the state after escaping from the traumatic setup and calling 911.
There is a weird twist … because Country star Luke Bryan was not involved, but his name sure comes up in the story.
This Arkansas mom is facing numerous charges surrounding one criminal conspiracy
Authorities have charged Tamara “Tammi” Hamby with conspiring to kidnapping, first-degree false imprisonment, abuse of an endangered or impaired person, third-degree battery, and second-degree terroristic threatening.
She allegedly recruited three accomplices — Shannon Childers, David Quach, and Nico Austria.
All three of her alleged co-conspirators have also been arrested.
The victim was Hamby’s 22-year-old daughter, who has developmental disabilities. According to her father, this includes epilepsy and reactive attachment disorder.
Epilepsy is a condition in which a person experiences seizures. Reactive attachment disorder means, among other things, not responding to most social interactions in an appropriate manner. (Most famously, you see this with children who grow up in orphanages or in a series of foster homes)
Apparently, someone had been catfishing Hamby’s daughter.
She believed that she had been speaking to Luke Bryan, who is a Country music star who is more than twice the 22-year-old’s age.
Obviously, the actual musician was not in contact with the young woman. But her parents feared that this was a predator who hoped to abduct the young woman.
The Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette obtained an affidavit that lays out the description of the crime, according to prosecutors.
Hamby allegedly recruited one of her daughter’s caregivers, Shannon Childers, to engage in this criminal conspiracy. Childers then, according to the affidavit, included Quach and Austira.
It all comes down to the Luke Bryan catfisher
Per these documents, it was Austria who lured Hamby’s daughter out of her home, claiming to be able to introduce her to Luke Bryan.
“Luke sent us. It’s now or never,” Austria allegedly told her.
The co-conspirators reportedly took the young woman to a field, donned ski masks, demanded money from her, and zip-tied her hands before tying her to a tree.
This criminal scheme was supposed to end with Hamby coming to “rescue” her daughter.
Instead, her daughter broke free and was able to escape to a nearby home. Homeowners contacted authorities on behalf of the traumatized woman.
Jeffrey Hamby, who says that he had no knowledge of his wife’s alleged criminal conspiracy, spoke to 5NEWS about his wife’s arrest and her possible motive.
“She has a lot of needs,” he said of his daughter. “She is 22 and beautiful and has the mind of about an 11-year-old.”
He described: “The predator developed a relationship with her, and he said he was Luke Bryan, the singer. And my daughter adores him.” This led the Hambys to believe that this man planned to lure and abduct her.
“And so, my wife, without my knowledge, with her aide and a couple of their friends, tried to do an intervention,” he lamented. He added: “We wanted to show her that evil does exist.”
The “intervention” that he describes is of course a criminal act. “And now she’s in DHS custody, and my wife is facing jail time.”
The trial is set for August
Apparently, this traumatic crime took place in November of last year. All four suspects surrendered themselves to authorities.
At a December 10 hearing, they pleaded “not guilty” in the kidnapping case.
There will be a March 10 pretrial hearing. All four will go on to have a June 24 status hearing and then begin their jury trial (or at least, the voir dire to select the jury) on August 10.
With multiple Class D felonies and multiple Class A felonies (and misdemeanors sprinkled in), Hamby and her alleged co-conspirators could be facing decades in prison.
Our society (and legal system) often leave people with the impression that they can sort of do whatever they want with their children or any vulnerable person in their care. However, you are not allowed to kidnap people.