LANDEN SNETHEN - 4 yo - Thompsonville IL

Thompsonville IL ---- The non-custodial mother of a 4-year-old Hamilton County, Ill., boy
faces felony home invasion and kidnapping charges after she allegedly
used force to take the child from the home of a relative in
Thompsonville, Ill., Monday afternoon.



Brooke A. Burnett, 24, is accused of snatching her 4-year-old son,
Landen Snethen at 1:20 p.m. Monday. According to Hamilton County
authorities, an active order of protection against Burnett was in force
at the time of the abduction.

Burnett and her son were found shortly before 6:30 p.m. Monday at a
Super 8 Motel in Okawville, a small Washington County, Ill., town just
off Interstate 64, not far from the Metro East St. Louis area.

Throughout the afternoon Monday, Illinois State Police followed leads
about the suspect and child’s whereabouts that took them into Saline,
Franklin, Williamson, Hamilton and Jefferson counties.

Around 6:20 p.m. Monday, an Illinois State Police officer spotted the
suspect’s silver 2000 Dodge Intrepid at the Super 8 motel in Okawville.
Burnett was apprehended without incident. Landen was reported to be
safe.

Burnett is being held in the Washington County jail at Okawville
pending transfer to the White County jail at Carmi for Hamilton County
authorities.

For the past two years, officials with the Illinois Department of
Children and Family Services had been investigating a Hamilton County
woman accused of kidnapping her young son.

Brooke A. Burnett, 24, is accused of forcing her way into a
relative’s home in Thompsonville on Monday afternoon and taking her
4-year-old son, Landen Snethen.

A little more than five hours later, Illinois State Police arrested
Burnett and safely recovered Landen at a Super 8 Motel in the small
Washington County community of Okawville, Ill.

A spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services headquarters in Chicago said their department opened a case on
Burnett in August 2008 when they investigated an “indicated case of
neglect.” Officials would not say if they had removed the child from the
household as a result of the 2008 complaint. The spokesman added that
DCFS agents are actively investigating the ongoing case involving the
alleged kidnapping.

“I anticipate the charges against Ms. Burnett will be aggravated
kidnapping, child abduction and violation of an order of protection,”
said Justin Hood, the Hamilton County state’s attorney.

Formal charges are not expected to be filed until later today because
no judge was available Tuesday to sign the necessary paperwork. The
judge will set bond once the charges have been formally filed.
Aggravated kidnapping, the most serious charge, is a felony carrying a
sentence of up to 30 years in prison.

Burnett has a limited criminal history, according to court records.
In 2009, she was convicted in Franklin County of knowingly damaging
property and was placed on 12 months court supervision, which was still
in effect at the time of her arrest Monday. She was ordered to pay $450
in fines and court costs.

Burnett was charged once in 2009 for writing a bad check, but the
case was dismissed. Her only other court record included four traffic
offenses. She remains in the Washington County jail at Okawville pending
transfer to the White County jail in Carmi later today.