The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office said a missing mother and infant from Fernley were found in Reno on May 19.
LCSO Chief Deputy Mitch Brantingham said at the May 20 Fernley City Council meeting that the United States Marshals Service found Twyla Defond and her 7-month-old daughter after a weeklong investigation.
LCSO said it began investigating after receiving a report from the Churchill County Sheriff’s Office on May 11 that Defond and the baby were missing.
Brantingham said investigators determined that Defond absconded from Nevada Parole and Probation and was actively hiding from law enforcement.
On April 5, Defond was arrested and booked into the Lyon County Jail on an outstanding arrest warrant. LCSO said she spent a few weeks in custody before being transferred to a rehabilitation center at the end of April. The sheriff’s office said she left the rehab facility on May 1. On May 5, the Third Judicial District Court for Lyon County issued a warrant for her arrest charging failure to comply with a Third Judicial District Court Specialty Court order. The warrant ordered her to be held without bail upon arrest.
“There was no active concern for her safety,” Brantingham said. “However, we were very concerned about the safety of the 7-month-old child that was involved in this case.”
Brantingham said LCSO worked with the U.S. Marshals Service and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and began the tracking process that eventually resulted in finding her and the baby.
“She was taken into custody and the child was recovered, safe and healthy,” Brantingham said. “Overall, a very happy outcome for us and exactly the outcome that we were looking for, to get her into custody and try and get her the help that she needs and ensure the safety of the kid.”
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