FBI: Biological Mom Kidnapped Adopted Baby

A woman and an armed man stormed a home wearing masks and kidnapped an infant the woman had given up for adoption, whisking the baby to a military base three states away, authorities alleged Sunday.

Investigators found the 5-month-old girl unharmed early Sunday at Fort Bragg, N.C., and planned to file state kidnapping charges against her biological mother, Jamie Kiefer. The child's biological aunt, Rikki Swann, will face charges related to the kidnapping but she did not enter the home where the baby was taken, said Special Agent Jason Pack, an FBI spokesman in Jackson.

"Apparently it was related to the adoption of the baby," Pack said. "Apparently Ms. Kiefer had changed her mind about the adoption."

Federal kidnapping charges against one or both are expected to be filed early next week in the Northern District of Mississippi.

Authorities were seeking the unidentified man, who had a gun during the invasion of the northern Mississippi home, Pack said.

Investigators believe the three took Madison Erickson at gunpoint and tied up her adoptive mother, Jennifer Erickson, at the home in Tishomingo County, near the Tennessee line about 200 miles north of Jackson.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert, and the FBI and military police set up surveillance at the base housing unit, where a van with Mississippi plates pulled up around 5:40 a.m., Pack said. The Army base is about 600 road miles from Erickson's home.

Kiefer's 5-year-old son also was at the base residence when Kiefer and Swann were arrested, Pack said.

Authorities weren't certain what connection Kiefer and Swann might have to Fort Bragg. Col. Bill Buckner, a base spokesman, said investigators believe Kiefer might be friends with the family living at the housing unit.

The baby was being examined at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg while the adoptive family traveled to the base. The women were being held by military police and were to be transferred to a civilian jail.

Pack said authorities are still trying to develop leads on the man involved in the kidnapping and don't yet have the suspect's name. Investigators are seeking another accomplice, a female, who participated in the invasion.