An abduction case that spanned decades has finally been resolved with the arrest of a Kentucky woman who is accused of kidnapping her child, moving to Florida, then changing her identity and remarrying.
According to WOFL, 66-year-old Debra Newton was arrested on Dec. 15 in front of her home in Marion County, Florida. She faces custodial interference charges for allegedly fleeing from Louisville, Kentucky, with her 3-year-old daughter, Michelle, in April 1983.
Debra claimed she was relocating to Georgia for a new job, but vanished with her daughter and cut off communication with her husband and Michelle’s father, Joe Newton.
Debra was indicted for custodial interference and was wanted on an FBI Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution. At one point, she made the FBI’s list for Top 8 Most Wanted parental-kidnapping fugitives.
The case went cold in 2000, and Michelle was taken off the missing child database. The case was reopened in 2016 at the request of a family member, and a grand jury reindicted Newton the year after that.
In 2025, detectives received a breakthrough tip through Crimestoppers about Newton’s whereabouts, which ultimately cracked the case. The tipster notified deputies that a woman resembling Newton was living in Marion County and went by the name “Sharon.”
Newton not only changed her name but also remarried, made a new life for herself, and finally retired to an upscale retirement community called The Villages with her husband. A photo and DNA from Newton’s sister confirmed “Sharon” was, in fact, Debra.
Bodycam footage shows the moment deputies approached Newton as she was walking her dog to deliver the news about her arrest.
One of her neighbors jokingly blurts out, “Uh-oh! They’re coming for you, Sharon!”
When Newton asks why the deputies are there, one says, “Well, we’re here for you, ma’am. Definitely here for you.”
The deputies dismiss Newton’s neighbor, who still thinks they’re joking, then explain to Newton that they have a warrant for her arrest.
“I didn’t do anything,” Newton says as she’s being handcuffed.
Newton was extradited to Kentucky. The felony custodial interference offense she faces has no statute of limitations.
Her daughter, Michelle, now 46, was reunited with her father and extended relatives.
Joe Newton said he’d searched for his wife and child for three years after they disappeared. He spoke to WLKY in 1983 after they vanished.
He said the family was preparing to move to Georgia and thought Debra had gone ahead of him with Michelle. However, when he got to Georgia, they were gone. He said the last time he spoke to his wife was between 1984 and 1985. Then he never heard from her again.
“She’s always been in my heart,” Newton told WLKY of his daughter. “I can’t explain that moment of that woman walking in and getting to put my arms back around my daughter.”
Michelle’s name was also changed when her mother relocated to Florida. She recalled the moments police came to her door after she got home from work to break the news.
“You’re not who you think you are. You’re a missing person. You’re Michelle Marie Newton,” she was told.
Michelle added that she wants to work with both her parents through the next steps of this case.
“My intention is to support them both through this and trying to navigate and help them both just wrap it up so that we can all heal and hopefully, you know, there’s just apologies and start healing,” she said.
It’s still unclear why Debra Newton left her husband. She is expected back in court on Jan. 23.
