Three kidnapped children recovered in Campbell County, sheriff says

CAMPBELL COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) - Lee County Sheriff’s Department officials in Mississippi announced that three children were found safe in Campbell County after being kidnapped.

On Tuesday, LCSD deputies responded to a call about a possible kidnapping at around 9 a.m. When deputies arrived at the home, a woman said that her biological father drove from Kentucky to Shannon, Mississippi, and kidnapped her three children under the age of 10.

LCSD officials said the suspect, Douglas Mills, 52, and two other people broke into the home and threatened the woman with a gun. Mills then left with his grandchildren, and LCSD officials believed that he was headed to his home in Kentucky.

Three people, including Mills, were taken into custody and the children were recovered in Campbell County between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., according to an LCSD release on Wednesday.

Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers were able to pull the suspect over on I-75 in Campbell County about 15 miles south of the Kentucky state line. “We want to thank all parties that were involved,” an LCSD representative said.

The children are currently in the custody of Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services, which is working with the Mississippi Department of Child Protective Services to get the children back to Mississippi.

LCSD said that the kidnapping was custodial. “This was a family situation,” an LCSD representative said. “They are in the legal custody of their mother here in Shannon [Mississippi].”

Along with Mills, Vanessa C. Cox, 45, and Sheila Hood, 50, were also taken into custody and awaiting extradition to Mississippi in the Campbell County Detention Center.

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