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Kidnapped Atascadero boy found safe

August 6, 2011

Jeremy Guthrie

After an extensive search, Atascadero Police located missing 4-year-old Jeremy Guthrie in a vacant building and returned him to his mother at about 5 p.m. on Friday.

Police suspect Annette Hale, 53, who is not related to the boy, kidnapped him from the Echo Shelter at the First Baptist Church in Atascadero at around 4:30 a.m. on Friday.

Hale and the boy’s mother had spent time together while staying at the shelter. Police suspect the kidnapping was sparked by an argument between Hale and the boy’s mother.

Shortly after receiving a phone call from someone saying Jeremy was waiting in a vacant building at the old Ford dealership at 3905 El Camino Real, police found the boy unharmed and wearing the same clothes he had on when he was abducted.

A short time later, police discovered Hale at a nearby business hiding in some bushes.

Police booked Hale into the San Luis Obispo County Jail where she was charged with felony kidnapping. Her bail is set at $1 million.


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It always makes my blood boil to hear of innocent chldren paying the price for their parents bad choices or behavior. It is not his fault they were out on the street and it is not his fault his mommy and her friend were fighting. But he is paying for being born intyo this melodrama…

I send my prayers to him and hope his mother gets her act together….


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What planet do you live in easymoney????

It wasn’t the mother’s fault that she and her son is in a shelter. You need to open your eyes and realize

that there are many families in shelters due to the economy and the pitfalls they find themselves in.

Just like you, one day in your home going about your business and the next you lose your job, your homeand with no where to go, you find shelter. At least she wasn’t living on the streets under an overpass.


I’m just thankful they found the mother’s son, safe and was able to make this a happy reunion.


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It’s live on, not in…


I work hard, pay my bills and provide for my family, I do not ask nor expect anyone else’s help nor have I ever taken any assistance… I am old school and was brought to be prepared, have a plan and never ask for something you could do for yourself.


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” never ask for something you could do for yourself.”

Maybe she can’t do for herself, what do you suggest that we do with her?


Lucky you, I’m happy for you. I have never been on public assistance and have done okay but the economy has taken it’s toll on my family business. I am one major medical problem from being where that woman is. I’ll bet most people are one major medical problem from where that woman is. As a matter of fact, my doctors bill are as high as some peoples house payments, how does one plan for that? My insurance went up this month and they now covers even less, This is a single women, we don’t know much about her. She could have mental issues, what a low life piece of cr@p eh? She could have been laid off and then she or her son could have gotten sick. There are many reasons why someone could get into a situation like this. It’s too bad that not everyone can be as lucky as you are. Until you’ve walked in her moccasins how can you judge what her situation is. Do you know her? Maybe you’re right, maybe she’s just a worthless person (that’s hard to say), do you really think that she’s happy? Do you think that when she was small child she said, ‘I can’t wait to grow up and live in a homeless center with my child’.


Face it easy, some people aren’t as smart as you, it’s not thier fault, they still deserve to be treated like humans and not dogs. The womans son was stolen and you’re making her out to be this horrible person when in reality she’s victim. Some people are victims and it’s not always thier fault.


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When my eyes, scanning down the page, ran across this story I initially misread it as “Kidnapped Atascadero boy found for sale.” And I thought, well shoot, I sure hoped they bought him and returned him to his parents!


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LOL!!


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Glad to hear he was found and unharmed.


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I heard the Amber Alert, it’s good that he has been returned to his mom. I hope that he and his mom find a way to improve their circumstances as well.


It looks like Ms. Hale has a new subsidized residence. A million dollars bail? Oh yeah, someone with no possessions and no job is really going to be able work with that.


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Annette Hale is suffering from severe “untreated” mental illness. Her son logged into the Tribune when the search was taking place and said that her mental health has been progressively deteriorating over the last decade. He said she is delusional at times and may have believed that the child she took was hers. No doubt they have her locked up at the County Mental Health Facility. Hopefully she will get the treatment she needs rather than a stiff prison term for kidnapping. All’s well that ends well .


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I agree, treatment is the key. Any time that I read about a woman taking a young child the woman is usually has a distorted view on things, unlike a man which in those case we all know what their goal is when taking children. Sometimes these women think that they can provide a better home or they are just desperate to have a child. In this case it sounds like therapy and meds might make a world of difference and would be a lot cheaper than simply throwing her in prison and not giving her proper treatment.


I feel so bad for the boy’s mother. It must be hard enough for her to have to stay at that place and now with this added issue I can’t imagine how she’s doing emotionally. She’s probably already depressed, now with this she probably won’t be able to sleep which only make things even worse emotionally. I hope that someone helps her.


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Somebody has helped her, she is no longer at the shelter. It was reported that she is staying with either family or friends. I don’t know why family or friends didn’t take her in to begin with, considering that she obviously has someone that could have helped her all along. Maybe she was too proud to ask and they didn’t know how destitute her situation was. Humm, actually forget the pride, not when you have a 4 year old. It’s hard to say, maybe the friends are new friends that decided to open their home to her after reading about her plight? I’m thinking out loud here…..


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Two questions, where was the childs mother all this time and why are two homeless women with supposed mental issues wandering around begging and confronting each other in public and endangering a minor?

The mother from the reports has many issues with a long history and is a frequent begger and the person who supposedly took the child had a confrontation in public as well as mental issues. If the mother can not or will not care for her offspring in a responsible way, he needs to be cared for by others and the person who took the child will need a very good lawyer. County mental health should have stepped up and protected the child long ago, before this event happened.


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Where did you hear about this boys mother having mental issues? I didn’t see that.


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From another article in the fishwrap:

“Senser was heart broken when he heard news of an abduction on Friday morning. He was one of many volunteers who began a city wide search. He says three business he went to had seen Hale.

“At the Carlton Hotel they said yea she’s been in here trying to get free rooms. So she’s been in the area and they said she doesn’t look like she’s a stable mind” says Senser.”


I mean no disrepect nor am I trying to put this woman down, but she does have problems and the people she rubs elbows with seem to as well. I am just glad the 4year old boy is safe…


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That’s too bad. It just makes her story even more sad.


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I didn’t hear the Amber Alert but I received lots of reverese 911 calls. Where did you hear the alert, was it on the radio or on the TV? I’ve occassionally seen those alerts of signs along freeways. Does anyone know how the Amber Alert system works? I’m just curious.


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