A 24-year-old mother reported missing out of Streator, Illinois, has been found safely and her 11-month-old son's father has been arrested Friday, the LaSalle County Sheriff's Office announced.
Kayla Stratton and her son Paul Merritte went missing around 11 p.m. on Feb. 17, according to the LaSalle County Sheriff's office.
Authorities said in a missing persons alert that the child was "consensually taken" by his father, 33-year-old Clarence Merritte, who is a suspect in the case.
Merritte was arrested, authorities say, in the 400 block of Paxton Street in Calumet City on a warrant for unlawful restraint, aggravated assault, driving with a revoked license and domestic battery.
The baby was dropped off at a family friend's home over the weekend, but the search for the boy's mother continued.
According to police, Stratton was in a car in the 1900 block of East 1st Street as the suspect chased her in another vehicle, ramming her car multiple times and forcing her off the road, where she crashed into a utility pole.
The suspect then struck and took Stratton from her car by the hair, officials said, forcing her into his vehicle, which was later found abandoned several blocks west of the incident.
An investigation was conducted by the sheriff's office wit the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force, the Cook County Sheriff's Office Fugitive Unit and the Streator Police Department.
