EAST ST. LOUIS, Illinois (AP) -- A woman and her boyfriend suspected of abducting her 9-month-old boy and killing a social worker were charged Friday with fleeing Kentucky to avoid prosecution.
Renee Terrell and Christopher Wayne Luttrell appeared Friday at an extradition hearing to transport them back to Kentucky, where the beaten body of Boni Frederick, 67, was discovered Monday.
Frederick had been a social worker for 15 years.
Terrell and Luttrell are expected to face kidnapping and murder charges in Kentucky.
The flight charges are punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
The couple allegedly abducted the child and fled to Illinois, launching a nationwide Amber Alert that ended Thursday when the FBI found the couple along with Saige Terrell. The child reportedly is in good condition.
The child has been returned to his foster parents in Union County, Kentucky, his foster mother, Jennifer Snyder, told a local newspaper.
Terrell, 33, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Wilkerson at the hearing that she was a widow and high school graduate who attended four years of college.
Luttrell, 23, who choked back tears moments after being led into court in leg and arm shackles, said he had a high school equivalency diploma and could read a little.
A call seeking comment from the couple's attorney at the extradition hearing, Julie Morian, wasn't immediately returned.
Kentucky child welfare officials removed the child from his mother's custody when he was 13 days old because of neglect, police said.
The child was with his mother because Frederick was supposed to supervise a visit.
The baby boy suffers a developmental disability, an official told CNN.
One of Terrell's neighbors, Jean Davis, said Terrell learned last week that the baby was going to be put up for adoption.
On Saturday, Davis said, Terrell told friends she planned to take the boy and run away to New Mexico, Davis said.
The couple waived their right to a second hearing that would have determined whether federal bond was set.
A call seeking comment from the couple's attorney at the extradition hearing wasn't immediately returned.
FBI agents arrested the couple on Thursday near Godfrey, Illinois, about 30 miles north of St. Louis, FBI agent John Stafford said Thursday at the Alton Law Enforcement Center, where the couple is behind bars.
Nevels said they were caught hiding in a camper where they had sought shelter after their car apparently broke down and got stuck in mud.
As a social worker with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Frederick drove children to and from family visits and doctor's appointments.
Family services spokeswoman Vikki Franklin acknowledged that it is common practice for social aides to travel alone. But if a worker should be concerned about safety, he or she can request an escort by a police officer or another social worker.
But another social worker said such escorts are rarely requested because workers are typically so pressed that they don't have the time to arrange for an escort. ( )
Frederick's co-workers reported her missing.
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