A 6-year-old Oak Park girl who police say was taken by her mother from an Oak Park restaurant Saturday during a court-supervised visit has been found safe in a Farmington Hills, Mich., hotel, Oak Park village spokesman David Powers said in an email Tuesday evening.
Wendy E. Jarvis, 41, of the 1100 block of South Boulevard in Oak Park, is being held in the Oakland County Jail pending extradition back to Illinois, Powers said. Police say the girl’s father was headed to Michigan to pick up his daughter Tuesday evening.
On Monday, Cook County domestic relations Judge Regina Scannicchio issued an arrest warrant for Jarvis.
Authorities said Jarvis took her daughter out the back door of the Wild Onion Tied House, 1111 South Blvd. in Oak Park, at about 11:15 a.m. Saturday during a supervised visit. The court-appointed supervisor told police that Jarvis said she was taking her daughter to the restroom but instead took the child out through a rear door of the restaurant’s kitchen.
In an order, Judge Scannicchio said “the court is extremely concerned for the minor child’s physical safety.” The judge also awarded Joshua Stegmeyer, the girl’s father, full custody of the child as well as possession of the couple’s Oak Park home. Court records indicate he had been living in a one-bedroom Schiller Park apartment.
According to Oak Park village spokesman David Powers, a community alert wasn’t immediately issued Saturday as it did not initially appear the child was in danger.
“Indications were this was a domestic dispute that would be resolved quickly,” Powers said. “Police still immediately contacted state police about an AMBER alert, but were told the incident did not meet the criteria.”
That all changed two days later during the Monday court hearing, Powers said.
“At a previously scheduled court hearing [Monday], the judge determined that after the mother did not appear, the threat to the juvenile had increased,” Powers said. “That is when Oak Park police asked the Illinois State Police to issue an Endangered Missing Person Advisory, and shared information with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.”
According to Oak Park officials, an extensive search of the area, including Jarvis’ home, turned up no clues as to the mother and daughter’s whereabouts. Officials said Jarvis’ parents live in Clarkston, Mich., which is about 42 miles northwest of Detroit. Jarvis was not known to have access to a car.
On Tuesday afternoon, after meeting in her chambers with attorneys on the case for more an hour, Scannicchio closed her courtroom to the press and ordered media to leave before a hearing in the case.
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