A mother in Florida left her young children and her truck in the care of a young woman she believed was a good friend on the evening of June 23 with plans to pick them up the following day. Breanna Leach, 23, trusted Adalyn Jean Burkett, 18, to care for her toddlers, 2-year-old DeKarsen Middleton and 1-year-old Delyla Middleton, but the young woman reportedly betrayed that trust and took the children, leaving their family terrified.
Burkett and Marquan L. Edwards, 22, allegedly took the children from their home in Panama City and drove for 16 hours to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, more than 1,000 miles away. When Leach contacted police, they enacted a missing child alert in hopes of finding the children. Thankfully, they were unharmed, and the family took a long road trip to bring them home.
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The teen babysitter did not tell Leach she was planning to leave the area.
According to a release from the Bay County Sheriff's Office, Leach tried to contact Burkett Saturday morning but found out she had left the state. She quickly contacted police and told them she had been with Burkett the night before in Calloway but had not seen her since.
Investigators surmised Burkett and Edwards traveled through the night on Friday and during the day on Saturday to his hometown of Milwaukee. Leach posted Monday on Facebook that her friend did not have permission to take her kids.
"For the people bashing me … lol. My kids were being babysat by their AUNTIE and took off out of state WITHOUT my permission," she wrote in the post. "I would never allow that to happen. Know before you speak."
Police issued a warrant for Burkett's arrest.
The sheriff's office reported that by the evening of June 24 it had issued an arrest warrant for Burkett on charges of interference with child custody and grand theft of an automobile and sent the information to Milwaukee police, confident she and Edwards were in the area. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement enacted a missing child alert on June 25.
"This was disseminated through numerous media outlets. When Burkett and Edwards learned of the Missing Child Alert, the suspects took both children and dropped them off in a public park in a neighborhood of Milwaukee, leaving them alone in a major metropolitan city," read a release from the sheriff's office posted on Facebook. "Investigators believe Burkett and Edwards wanted to distance themselves from the investigation and possible arrest."
The toddlers were alone in a park when police found them.
DeKarsen and Delyla were alone and probably scared but unharmed. Police contacted the children's relatives, who couldn't wait to see them.
"We've been on the road since 4 o'clock yesterday. We drove 17 hours to get here. We would have walked if we had to," Tina Leach, the children's grandmother, told WISN.
She said Burkett reportedly had family in the area where she allegedly left the children. The children's aunt, Aleia Leach, said Burkett was in foster care in Milwaukee before turning 18.
Burkett was the subject of a long-standing missing person case.
In March 2022, Fox 6 reported that Burkett had been a long-term missing teen who was reported missing in May 2020 and last seen in Milwaukee in November 2021. Police believed she may have been in Florida. At the time of her disappearance, police believed she left her home willingly and was evading law enforcement. She was 15 years old.
A woman on Facebook commented that Burkett's story sounds like a movie plot.
"There was a movie where a girl had been kidnapped and held for years. When she got older and became unattractive to her kidnapper, he used her to lure young kids. Maybe this was the same scenario," she wrote.
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Police arrested the alleged kidnappers in a Milwaukee home.
According to police, the pair were arrested Monday and face multiple charges. In addition to charges from the sheriff's police investigation, Milwaukee police also informed the pair they are investigating them for allegedly leaving the children alone in a park.
The children's mother eagerly awaited their arrival on Tuesday.
"My babies are 10 hours away from home. I cannot wait I want to say thank you to EVERYBODY that has helped find my babies. I want to say thank you for all of the prayers and donations. And most importantly I want to thank God above for keeping his hands on my little ones!!" Breanna Leach wrote Tuesday on Facebook. "This has most definitely been a scary and heart breaking experience but I'm grateful for the ones who have stood by me through it. And I can't forget the ones that turned my babies into the police when she found them. Walk Er Down you don't know how much of a blessing you and your sister are boo."
