Kidnapping Arrest Ends Another Chapter in Long Saga

The after their alleged abduction to Mexico ends another chapter in a long saga.

In November of 2007, deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Walnut station responded to the 22000 block of Cello Drive in Diamond Bar to investigate the reported abduction of Rep. Miller's three grandchildren by their mother and former Miss Diamond Bar, 34-year-old Jennifer Lopez-DeJongh.

At that time, Lopez-DeJongh was in a custody dispute with Rep. Miller's son Brian Miller and she did not have legal custody of the children, according to an L.A. Times report.

According to a website created by the family after the reported abduction, Lopez-DeJongh "disobeyed a court order and took her children Brian, Christian and Evan Miller and left the area" with her husband George DeJongh instead of putting the children in the custody of Miller and his wife Cathy.

In a 2008 blog post at the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Lopez-DeJongh's father Jude Lopez said the site "barely covers the injustices in this case."

As a result of the content of that site and an appearance Lopez-DeJongh made on KFI's "John and Ken Show" Rep. Miller's son Brian — the father of the children — sued Lopez for slander and libel.

The original website was shut down in 2008 only to be resurrected in another form around April 11 of that year. According to internet archives, the last record of the site exists from May 22, 2008.

Since that time, authorities continued a search for the congressman's grandchildren that extended to Las Vegas and Mexico.

Authorities from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Major Crimes Bureau said that no strong leads were found in the case until Aug. 10 of this year, when collaboration with the FBI and other agencies led to the arrest of Lopez-DeJongh in Mexicali.

The three boys — two 10-year-olds and one 12-year-old — were taken into protective custody Wednesday and expected to be returned into the custody of their grandparents shortly after.

According to an FBI report, authorities expect that the federal charges against Dejongh will be dropped and that she will be prosecuted by the L.A. County district attorney's office.

Lopez-DeJongh is currently being held at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood on $500,000 bail.

Her next court date is set for Aug. 24 at 8:30 a.m. at the Los Angeles Municipal Court.