Boy, 12, Found Safe and Mother Charged After Amber Alert Issued

A 48-year-old woman was charged with kidnapping Monday after allegedly abducting her 12-year-old son during a visitation that set off an Amber Alert.
Sri Ann Johnston, of Long Beach, was charged with one count each of kidnapping and child custody deprivation, according to a news release from the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office.

The “suspect vehicle” involved in a Long Beach Amber Alert was described as a tan, four-door Saturn sedan, license plate No. 4AUU679. (Credit: KTLA)

The boy, Nicholas Johnston, was allegedly picked up Wednesday in Long Beach by his mother for a midweek visitation, but she failed to take him to school the next day, the release stated.
Johnston and her son were missing for several days, prosecutors said, triggering an Amber Alert issued by the California Highway Patrol on Monday afternoon.
Shortly after the alert, which went out to cellphones and news media, the mother and son were found in Oceanside, in San Diego County.
Police were working with a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force, which took the mother into custody, according to a tweet from the Long Beach Police Department.
Sri Ann Johnston was expected to be arraigned later in the week. She faces up to 13 years and eight months in prison if convicted.
The boy was set to be reunited with his father later Monday, police said.

An emergency notification about the Amber Alert was sent to cell phones.