PORTLAND, Maine — The mother of the missing child from Ames, Iowa, apparently left a note with a relative before the two disappeared four months ago. Both were found safe Wednesday nearly 1,500 miles east on an island in Casco Bay.
Esther Bender, 41, the mother of the 6-year-old, has been charged with violation of custodial order and was brought to the Cumberland County Jail, where she remained Friday. Police said the girl was safely taken to family and would likely be reunited with her father, who does not live in Ames.
The ties to Maine were not disclosed by law enforcement officials due to the ongoing investigation. However, a spokesperson with the Ames Police Department shared details Thursday about the four-month search with NEWS CENTER Maine.
Bender and the child were last known to be in Iowa around Oct. 14, 2023. At that time, Bender and the child's father were involved in custody hearings. Bender at the time was the custodial parent.
During one of the scheduled hearings, the father was present, but Bender and the child were not, Sgt. Amber Christian said. A few days later, the two again did not appear, prompting the judge to agree it was a violation of the court order.
"At that point, Esther had then become the noncustodial parent, and a warrant was placed out for her arrest," Christian said.
The child was then listed as missing in the national database. An Amber Alert was not issued, but Christian explained they could not prove at the time that the child was in imminent danger.
According to records obtained by NEWS CENTER Maine, Bender apparently left a handwritten note with a relative, "indicating that she was gone and would not be back as she was going to create a 'beautiful' life for her ... daughter."
The note also indicated they would be gone for about four years and provided instructions for handling rent, utilities, and banking in Bender's absence, and all cellphone and email contact for them had apparently been terminated.
“As you can imagine, with having terminated all email and cellphone accounts, we had to start trying to figure out how she was communicating, how she was traveling, the vehicle that she was known to be in was no longer registered to her and was still here in Iowa," Christian said. "And so again it was just really working diligently to try and find any leads and any information that would lead us to finding the two of them.”
After executing multiple search warrants and subpoenas, following up on investigative leads, and analyzing all information they received, the investigation ultimately led Iowa police to work with law enforcement in Maine.
"We're super happy that she's well and found, and now the courts can handle it from here," Christian said.
A jail official told NEWS CENTER Maine Friday that Bender was being held there on no bail by order of a Maine judge.