A Randolph County couple was arrested Sunday in South Carolina after allegedly fleeing West Virginia with their child without legal custody, authorities said.
Darries L. Fauntleroy and Megan R. Fauntleroy, both 40, of Montrose, were charged with felony conspiracy and taking a minor child from a custodian out of West Virginia, according to the Elkins Detachment of West Virginia State Police.
The seven-year-old child was under the custody of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. While the Fauntleroys are the biological parents, neither had legal custody, and Megan was reportedly not allowed to be in the child’s presence.
Authorities said the couple took the child and were believed to have fled to South Carolina. After a coordinated investigation involving WVSP, the U.S. Marshals Service, and local South Carolina law enforcement, the couple was located and arrested in Kingstree, S.C., by the Kingstree Police Department, Williamsburg County Sheriff’s Office, and U.S. Marshals. They are awaiting extradition back to West Virginia.
The child was safely recovered and is in the care of the South Carolina Department of Social Services, pending a safe return to WVDHHR custody.