Body camera footage captured the moment Florida woman Debra Newton was arrested nearly four decades after authorities say she abducted her young daughter and disappeared.
As deputies approached her home, a neighbor jokingly warned Newton, “They’re coming for you, Sharon,” referring to the name she had been living under. Moments later, law enforcement confirmed they were, in fact, there for her — and that Sharon was not her real name.
Newton, 66, was arrested on Nov. 24 in Florida by deputies working with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. She now faces a felony custodial interference charge in Kentucky for the alleged parental abduction of her daughter, Michelle Marie Newton, in 1983. Michelle, now 46, was raised under a different name and believed she was someone else for most of her life.
According to investigators, a recent tip sparked renewed interest in the cold case and led to Michelle being located alive. Authorities later reunited her with her father, Joe Newton, more than 40 years after the alleged abduction.
Court records show the family was preparing to move to Georgia in 1983. Joe Newton arrived at their new home to find that Debra and their daughter never showed up. They were never seen again, and Joe last heard from Debra in 1986. Over time, some believed she had died from a drug overdose — a belief later proven false.
When deputies arrived at Newton’s home in The Villages, she was walking her dog and chatting with a neighbor. The neighbor initially thought the situation was a prank. Bodycam footage shows Newton repeatedly telling deputies and her husband that she had done nothing wrong as officers placed her in handcuffs and led her away.
Newton has since been extradited to Kentucky, where there is no statute of limitations for non-custodial parental abductions.
Investigators said the case finally broke open last year after an anonymous tip was called into a Florida Crime Stoppers line. Just weeks ago, Michelle returned home from work to find police waiting for her.
“They told me, ‘You’re not who you think you are. You’re a missing person. You’re Michelle Marie Newton,’” she recalled.
Chief Deputy Col. Steve Healey called the case a once-in-a-career moment for law enforcement.
“Detectives refused to let the trail go cold,” Healey said. “Their work — and the courage of a Crime Stoppers tipster — brought a daughter home to her family after four decades.”
Joe Newton described the reunion as overwhelming.
“I wouldn’t trade that moment for anything,” he said. “It was just like seeing her when she was first born. It was like an angel.”
Michelle said her focus now is healing rather than blame.
“My intention is to support them both through this and try to navigate and help them wrap it up so that we can all heal,” she said. “Hopefully, there are apologies and we can start healing.”
The long-missing father and daughter finally reunited on Joe’s front porch, embracing for the first time in more than 40 years — a moment investigators say brought a decades-old case to a long-awaited turning point.
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