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Abduction Case Complicated, Suspect's Sister Says


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Tyler Needham
Abduction Case Complicated, Suspect's Sister Says
The sister of a woman who authorities believe kidnapped 17-month-old twins said Wednesday the case is a complicated and emotional one that perhaps was building over time.

Durham police and the FBI are investigating the disappearance of Tyler and Holly Needham, who were taken from their adoptive parents on Dec. 22 for a scheduled monthly visitation by their birth mother, Allison Quets.

Police said Tuesday, however, that Quets, 49, never returned Sunday evening and that she and the children might be in Kentucky or Florida.

"God forbid that a loving mother should face criminal charges for wanting to be with her children," said Quets' sister, Gail Quets.

After her sister got pregnant through in vitro fertilization, Gail Quets said, the pregnancy was difficult and her sister suffered from extreme nausea and had to be fed through a tube.

"She weighed less after nine months than she did before she was pregnant," Gail Quets said, adding that her sister was so weak that she worried she would not be able to care for the twins.

"She was absolutely pressured into giving them up for adoption," Gail Quets said.

Allison Quets found Kevin and Denise Needham through a friend, but regretted her decision to give up her children 12 hours after she signed adoption papers, her sister said.

"She's been fighting since Day 1," Gail Quets said. "She has spent more than $400,000—all of her life savings—on the legal process."

The custody battle is playing out in Jacksonville, Fla., where Allison Quets lives. Her sister said she has been renting an apartment in Durham so that she can have monthly visits with the children, who now live in Apex.

A neighbor said she saw a stroller outside Quets' apartment on Christmas Eve, but has not seen her since.

Investigators think Quets might be traveling in a white Plymouth van with North Carolina license LRJ-6644 or Florida license E377HZ.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the three is asked to call 911 or the Durham Police Department at 919-560-4427.

Durham police would not comment on the case Wednesday and directed all questions to the FBI, which is now investigating.

WRAL's calls to the FBI were not immediately returned Wednesday, so it was unclear exactly why an Amber Alert has not been issued in the case. Typically, one is only issued if authorities believe an abducted child is in danger.

The children's adoptive family said Wednesday that investigators advised them not to comment.

Gail Quets said she does not know where her sister is, but that she was not worried about the children.

"I'm not that worried, because I know my sister is a very smart and capable person," she said. "And I know she loves her children very much and would never endanger them."

RELATED TOPICS: Durham, Apex, Florida Keys Oil Spill

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Whiningpuker and SpiritWarriorwoman; thank you for your well thought out, informative yet compassionate posts.I hope you both continue to comment on future stories. Folks need to hear some calm voices of reason.

Forty-nine (too old to have children obviously because she had trouble with the entire pregnancy) not seventeen, they aren't even her children. She is OLD enough to know better, hormones or not, please. Even if they were her own, she gave them up and a new mother then went through the gurations of motherhood. Expectation of their receipt, raised them for a year, day care, bed times all because of this irresponsible woman who obviously is ill prepared for motherhood - I want them, I don't want them, I want them, I don't want them so get caught in Canada because I(she) am an Quets idiot. At Forty-nine, a NORMAL woman has grandchildren. Doing it for the good of her children, robertfoerester, ha! These childrens are put on a ping pong table between these people. How in the HECK does she expect these kids to understand what happened to them. First they were sleeping in their own beds and next they are traveling through the night (Woose)with grandma. This should be capitol IMO!

Some of the posts here simply don't understand what raging hormones can do to a woman, both before birth and after birth, and for how long. Research and understand before condemning another for something you don't understand yourself. While this is complicated, the facts remain that this woman is their mother and, if she is found to be mentally stable, the children should be returned to her because she has been trying since day one, well within the limits allowed by adoptive law, to have them returned to her. God bless. Rev. RB

Allison's children should be given back to her, no ifs or buts about it. The following story should show you how shady that adoption process was: WHO KIDNAPPED WHOM FIRST? http://missingchild.wordpress.com/ Florida is notorious for being anti-birth parent and having unjust, boardering illegal private adoption laws since the adoption process is a very profitable one for lawyers and the state's laws are at best open to interpretation. Futhermore hyperemesis is a severely debilatating condition that is medically known to cause depression, anxiety and other afflictions that probably contributed to her poor state of mind when she was most likely coerced to signed the adoption papers. The mere fact that she was put in contact with the Needhams by their cousin and among other things there are witnesses admitting that the adoption papers were backdated is just the beginning of a very sordid tale.

We have familiarity with this situation. Here are a few facts as we know them: - The twins are the result of donor egg and donor sperm. So, Allison is a “birth mother” and not a “biological mother”. - Prior to placing the twins, Allison sought multiple adoption attorneys and at least two adoption agencies. - Allison had the twins for 5 months before she placed the twins. She had plenty of time to consider her options. - Allison is an educated and intelligent woman who made an informed decision when she place the children with the adoptive parents.

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