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Couple snatched their kids, police say

By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published September 21, 2005

TEMPLE TERRACE - A fugitive couple from the Pacific Northwest who police say kidnapped their children and hid from authorities for nearly a year were arrested last week after they turned up in Temple Terrace.

Mark Anthony Miclette and his wife Antonia Twain Miclette, both 46, have been on the FBI's most wanted list for almost a year. Both were wanted by authorities on charges of access device fraud and identity theft, according to the FBI.

The pair was arrested Friday in Temple Terrace as a result of an investigation initiated by the U.S. Postal Inspections Service. The Miclettes raised a red flag with postal officials when the husband used an alias in a money order scheme, said Temple Terrace police spokeswoman Paula MacDonald. Police went looking for the man, then realized it was Mark Miclette, who was listed as a wanted fugitive.

Temple Terrace police also found the couple's 10- and 13-year-old children with them at an extended stay hotel in Telecom Park, MacDonald said.

The Miclettes were jailed in Washington County, Ore., in September 2004. Antonia Miclette had gotten into a car accident in Hillsboro, Ore., and a records check by authorities there showed that she and her husband were wanted in California on warrants for attempts to commit grand theft.

While the Miclettes were in jail, their children were placed in Oregon state custody. When the couple got out of jail a month later, they grabbed their children from their foster home as the children headed to school, the FBI said. When the couple did not show up for a custody hearing, the state of Oregon received full custody of their children.

In November 2004, a federal judge in Oregon issued arrest warrants for the Miclettes.

MacDonald said the family had been living in Temple Terrace for four months. They didn't work, and the children did not go to school, she said.

Beth Anne Steele, spokeswoman for the FBI in Oregon, said the couple may not be extradited since the charges are federal and could be transferred. MacDonald said Temple Terrace police planned to file additional charges.

Mark and Antonia Miclette remained at the Orient Road jail on Tuesday, held without bail.

Their children have been placed into the temporary care of the Florida Department of Children and Families, where officials are working with the Oregon Department of Human Services to return the children to their care.

[Last modified September 21, 2005, 00:38:36]