ST. LOUIS — The search for a 7-year-old Missouri girl and her mother switched focus Tuesday to nearly 1,000 miles away, after the mother's car was spotted in Colorado nearing the Utah border.
Police are searching for the St. Charles County girl, Piper Johnson, and her biological mother, Valerie Jean Baker, after authorities say Baker took her daughter during a supervised visit at a public library Monday afternoon.
Baker, 35, pushed a case worker at the library before leaving with her daughter, authorities said.
Late Tuesday afternoon, St. Charles County Prosecutor Tim Lohmar announced his office had charged Baker with interference with custody and fourth-degree assault.
The car they left in was still showing front-end damage from November when, police said, the mother used the vehicle to ram a garage in a failed attempt to kidnap her daughter and son. She was released from jail in January.
Nearly 24 hours after Piper was taken, investigators on Tuesday said they were unsure if Piper was in "imminent danger" but said Baker has shown signs of being in a mental crisis.
The case is not being handled as a parental kidnapping, Lohmar said.
Baker is charged with taking Piper from the Boone's Trail Branch library in Wentzville at about 3:30 p.m. Monday.
They left in a dark blue 2018 Toyota Corolla with Missouri license plate CW8Z1G, police said. The car is missing a quarter panel and door handle from the front driver's side.
Police issued an endangered person advisory for Piper.
Lohmar said a license-plate reader detected Baker's car just before 7 a.m. Tuesday west of Denver, nearing Utah. Police haven't divulged if there were any additional sightings after the car was spotted there.
Piper is Baker's youngest child. Baker also has a 9-year-old son, who was not taken from the library.
On Nov. 27, Baker drove the same Corolla into the garage of a home in the 1800 block of Oscar Ridge Road, Joyner said. Baker rammed the garage "in hopes of taking the children," Joyner said.
After ramming the garage in November, Baker got into the home and assaulted her mother, police said. Officers arrested her at the home.
St. Charles County prosecutors charged Baker on Nov. 29 with fourth-degree domestic assault and first-degree property damage. Her bail was set at $50,000 cash.
On Jan. 13, Judge Terry Cundiff ordered she be released from jail on her promise to appear in court. The judge also said Baker should have no contact with her parents or her children, unless under the supervision of a state case worker.
Baker was scheduled for a court hearing last Thursday but it was continued until April 21. Her home address in an online court file was listed in the 100 block of Rue Grand Drive in Lake Saint Louis.
Baker's attorney in that case, Meggie Biesenthal, could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
Val Joyner, a spokeswoman for the St. Charles County Police Department, said Baker is the girl's noncustodial parent. Joyner said the case worker who was pushed at the library was uninjured.
Lohmar said the Missouri Department of Social Services has court-ordered legal custody of the children. He didn't say why Baker lost custody or provide any information about the children's father.
Piper is described as white, 3 feet tall and about 55 pounds. She has brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. Piper was wearing a white T-shirt with a unicorn on it, a gray jacket, white pants with pink swirls, and light-up tennis shoes.
Baker is described as white, 5-foot-7 and 185 pounds. She has brown hair, brown eyes, a fair complexion and was wearing a black jacket and blue jeans.
Anyone who sees Baker or Piper is asked to call St. Charles County police at (636) 949-3000.
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(Post-Dispatch staff writer Katie Kull contributed to this report.)
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