Idaho Grandma Charged With Murder

A woman described as mentally ill was charged Tuesday with murder for allegedly jumping into the Snake River with her granddaughter in an apparent murder-suicide attempt, authorities said. The toddler remained missing.

Kelley Jean Lodmell, 38, was to make her initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon on a charge of first-degree murder. She also was charged with kidnapping for allegedly taking her granddaughter from another family member Sunday in Utah.

Rescue divers continued to search the murky waters of the river for the body of 19-month-old Acacia Patience Bishop.

Authorities said the charges were based on physical evidence and several hours of interviews with Lodmell, described as a paranoid schizophrenic.

"We have reason to believe she intentionally jumped into the river in an attempt to commit suicide and kill the baby," Idaho Falls Police Sgt. Steve Hunt said. "We don't believe the baby going into the water was an accident."

Hunt said earlier that baby shoes, a doll and one of the woman's shoes were found on the platform where Lodmell told authorities Monday that she and the child fell in while dangling their feet in the water. The woman's other shoe was found in the river.

Lodmell had stopped taking medication for her illness, according to her daughter Casey Lodmell, who is Acacia's mother. The daughter said her mother had wanted the little girl for herself.

Divers searched for seven hours Monday in water 40 feet deep, and went back to work Tuesday morning.

Up to 10 divers would continue the search for the girl, diver Karl Casperson said. Dogs worked the banks trying to pick up the child's tracks and boats searched a couple of miles downriver.

The spot where the woman said she and the girl fell is along a spillway 200 yards upriver from a power plant.

Ken Lawson, dispatch supervisor with Idaho Falls Power, said the woman ran into the plant just after noon Monday.

"She ran in here soaking wet, and said that her baby had fallen in the water," Lawson said. "She said her baby was in the river, drowning."

The plant was immediately shut down so that the river water would not be sucked into the plant's turbines, Lawson said.

Last year, Lodmell took Acacia for half an hour before relatives found them, Salt Lake County sheriff's spokeswoman Peggy Faulkner said. No charges were filed. Since then, Acacia had only had supervised visits with her grandmother, she said.

On Sunday evening, Acacia was being watched by her great-grandparents in Salt Lake County, Utah, while her parents attended a wedding rehearsal dinner. Linda Lodmell, the girl's great-grandmother, said Kelley Lodmell — her daughter — stopped by while she was watching Acacia, and then both disappeared.

Linda Lodmell said her daughter has received only short-term mental care and took medications only when she could afford them. She tried to get mental health care for her daughter through corrections agencies, she told the Deseret News of Salt Lake City. Her daughter had pleaded guilty to a 1999 charge of aggravated assault of a police officer and was put on probation.

The little girl was seen Sunday night when Lodmell checked into an Idaho Falls hotel along the river. Clerk Josh Siems said she sat the child on the counter as she checked in at about 10 p.m.

"The kid was OK," he said. "A cute kid."

The Department of Justice says some 800,000 children are reported missing each year, while 500,000 others go missing but are not reported.