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Wichita, KS – On Tuesday, the family of 3-year-old Ellix Williams is breathing a sigh of relief after U.S. Marshals found and rescued the missing toddler who had disappeared more than a year ago from Wichita. He and his mother Jancyne Lacey Williams, who allegedly took Ellix in September 2014 during a custody dispute, were found in Atlanta, Georgia – more than 900 miles from home. Williams was arrested and charged with aggravated interference with parental custody.

“We are grateful this case had a happy end,” said U.S. Marshal Ronald Miller of the District of Kansas. “The U.S. Marshals and our state and local law enforcement partners were determined to find little Ellix and bring him home to his family. Today, that promise was fulfilled and a little boy is back where he belongs.”

The case gained momentum when U.S. Marshals received information that led them to believe Williams was in Florida. After discovering a fresh trail left by Williams, deputies were able to narrow her location to a residence in Atlanta where she was arrested and Ellix was found asleep in a bedroom. Authorities immediately notified the toddler’s family and his father made arrangements to come pick up his son.

Williams is being held in the DeKalb County Jail in Atlanta awaiting extradition to Kansas.

Mandated by the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, the U.S. Marshals Service and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children formed a joint initiative that targets missing child cases. Since the programs inceptions, the Marshals safely recovered 395 children and arrested 311 of their abductors.