Crime & Safety
'Not Guilty,' Says Alleged Kidnapper of Rep. Miller's Grandsons
Jennifer Lopez Dejongh, 34, was once a fugitive on "America's Most Wanted." Now she has pleaded not guilty to abducting her children after a custody dispute.
She says she's not guilty.
Jennifer Lopez DeJongh, the former beauty queen turned fugitive accused of kidnapping the grandchildren of U.S. Congressman Gary Miller (R-Mission Viejo) told a Los Angeles court she is not guilty Friday.
DeJongh was arrested Wednesday in Mexicali, a Mexican agricultural city bordering California.
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The children went missing in November 2007, a few months after DeJongh married a new husband.
In a 16-page letter DeJongh sent to police and her hometown newspaper shortly after the alleged abduction, the mother defended her actions. She said then that she was protecting her children from an abusive father, referring to Congressman Miller's son, Brian.
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"I am a mother trying to protect her children," she wrote.
Police said the children were found safe and will soon be returned to their homes in California.
"My wife and I are extremely relieved that after more than three and a
half years, our grandchildren have been found unharmed and returned safely to the United States," Gary Miller said in a statement.
On May 31, 2008, DeJongh was depicted on the TV show America's Most Wanted.
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