Leo Gillick
A woman in the Florida panhandle kidnapped a man and his two daughters, insisting that he was pretending to be their father.
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The father and his two children were fishing off the edge of a bridge in Bostic Pelt Road, Wakulla County. They were enjoying their day and waiting for a bite. However, when 71-year-old Helen Litchfield drove past on her way home, she felt something wasn’t right.
She stopped to talk to the man and his daughters. During the conversation, she became convinced that the daughters were under duress and being held by their father. So, she concocted a plan to get them back to her place.
She told them about a fishing pond on her property where they were sure to get themselves a bite. “Litchfield lured a father and his two daughters (both under 13 years of age) who were fishing off a bridge back to her home, under the guise of letting them fish in her pond,” the local sheriff’s office said.
Father Fell For Fishing Fraud
Excited at the prospect of a fishing pond, and obviously not suspecting the elderly woman of kidnapping, he and his daughters followed her home. However, when they got to the woman’s house, she pulled out a gun.
Pointing the firearm at the father and children, she held them captive, accusing the father of kidnapping his own daughters. “Litchfield then proceeded to hold the family hostage at gunpoint, claiming she didn’t believe the girls were really the daughters of the man. Both children and the man insisted they were in fact related, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. While being held at gunpoint, Ms. Litchfield unlawfully searched the family’s car.”
Eventually, the old woman’s housemate helped them escape the kidnapping. While Lichfield was distracted, they led them from the house and helped them jump a fence. They told them to run, which they did, and called the police.
His daughters will never have such an action-packed day of fishing again in their lives. Thankfully, they all escaped unharmed, if not shaken up. Lichfield is facing three counts of kidnapping, three counts of aggravated assault, and one count of armed burglary.
