THE VILLAGES, FL – What began as a lighthearted moment among neighbors ended in disbelief when police showed up to arrest a 66-year-old woman who had been living under a false identity for decades. “Uh oh, they’re coming for you, Sharon!” one friend joked as officers approached. But her name wasn’t Sharon. Authorities say it was Debra Newton — a former fugitive once on the FBI’s list of Top 8 Most Wanted parental kidnappers.
Newton, who had built a new life and remarried under an assumed name, was taken into custody after investigators confirmed through DNA and photos that she was the same woman accused of abducting her 3-year-old daughter, Michelle Newton, from Kentucky in 1983.
According to federal records, Debra Newton fled with her daughter following a custody dispute and vanished without a trace. For years, she was the subject of a nationwide search. The case was dismissed in 2000 after no leads surfaced, and Michelle was removed from the national missing-child database.
In 2025, detectives received a tip through Crime Stoppers that led them to The Villages, a sprawling retirement community in central Florida. Investigators quietly verified Newton’s identity, and DNA testing from her sister confirmed the match.
Authorities say Michelle, now 46, had been living under a different name her entire life, unaware that she had been abducted or listed as a missing child for two decades. When investigators informed her of her true identity, she immediately reached out to her father, Joseph Newton, who never stopped hoping for a reunion.
“She’s always been in our heart,” Joseph said. “I can’t explain that moment of walking in and getting to put my arms back around my daughter. I wouldn’t trade that moment for anything. It was just like seeing her when she was first born. It was like an angel.”
Investigators are still reviewing whether charges can be reinstated given the age of the case and the previous dismissal. For now, a family separated for four decades has been reunited — thanks to one phone call and a chance discovery that ended a mystery spanning generations.