INDIANAPOLIS –– Indiana State Police Detectives have arrested three women for kidnapping a 7-year-old child from Indianapolis. The child has been located safe in Texas and is currently with child protective services awaiting reunification with the father.
At 7 p.m. Monday, Indiana State Police detectives in the Indianapolis District were contacted about an alleged child abduction. The case was complex and spanned several jurisdictions. Investigators immediately began following leads provided by the child’s father. Detectives worked through the night and eventually determined the 7-year-old was with their biological mother, who does not have legal custody, in Fort Worth, Texas. ISP detectives coordinated directly with Fort Worth Police Officers who located the child and arrested the mother, Brandy Clark, 43.
Detectives learned two adult half sisters to the 7-year-old conspired with Brandy Clark to plan and conduct the abduction. The two women, Sydney Rochez, 26, and Symone Bailey, 25, convinced their father, who is also the father of the 7-year-old, that they were taking the child to an amusement park in southern Indiana. The two women picked up the child from their father’s house in Indianapolis June 19, and were supposed to visit the park the next day. Detectives were able to determine that was a lie and Rochez and Bailey took the child from their father and drove to Missouri, then the child boarded a plane with Brandy Clark and flew to Texas.
When the child’s father contacted Rochez and Bailey, they told him that while they were at the park the child’s mother arrived and took the child from them. They conveyed to their father they believed she had saw a post on social media alerting her that the child was at the park. It was discovered by detectives this social media post was part of their abduction plan, they created a fictitious post about being at the park and were in collaboration with Brandy Clark.
Brandy Clark was arrested in Texas and faces kidnapping charges. Both Sydney Rochez and Symone Bailey were arrested in Indiana by Indiana State troopers and they face the preliminary charges of kidnapping.
All crimes mentioned in this release are alleged and all suspects are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court. This investigation is ongoing and the information above is preliminary.