One month after a woman was extradited back to Lee County and charged with two counts of custodial kidnapping, the state declined to prosecute the case.
The State Attorney’s Office decided in December not to file charges against Melissa Lynn Hopkins, 41, of Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Hopkins had been located in Tennessee in November by the U.S. Marshal’s Smokey Mountains Task Force.
She had been wanted on a warrant for remove conceal child from state.
Hopkins reportedly shared custody of two of her children with their father. When she reportedly did not show up with the children at the chosen meeting places several times, he asked a Lee County judge to give him sole custody.
A judge ordered that the children be removed and given to their father, officials previously said. The warrant was later issued in September when Hopkins’ did not comply.
Samantha Syoen, spokeswoman for the State Attorney’s Office, reported Wednesday that the charges against Hopkins “could not be filed on due to the facts and circumstances of the case.”
Hopkins said via email that she had legal custody of the children.