Father of missing Washington, D.C., woman's son arrested in Beaver County

A missing woman investigation in Washington, D.C., now has a western Pennsylvania connection. The father of her 10-year-old son was tracked to Brighton Township, Beaver County, and has been arrested.

Russell Ashford lives in New Brighton, but police say he wasn't supposed to leave Pennsylvania, so when investigators learned he had been in Washington, D.C., they started tracking his movements.

The missing woman, Antoinette Forbes, hasn't been seen since Sept. 4.

Friends say her phone, wallet and keys were found at her home in D.C., along with her car and dog. 

As investigators searched for Forbes, they were also trying to find her 10-year-old son and his father, Ashford. 

That search led them to Brighton Township, where Ashford lives.

"The license plate readers, or LPRs, as we refer to them, that is what was able to track him from leaving Pa. down into D.C., the route that he took from here through Maryland and back up, and that's ultimately what, seeing where the last couple of places he hit, notifying law enforcement and that's how they were able to apprehend him," said Beaver County District Attorney Nate Bible.

Brighton Township police stopped Ashford Saturday and found Forbes' son in the car with him.

The child was safe and unharmed. Ashford was arrested for violating his parole by leaving Pennsylvania.

"The child is safe, he's back with family and he's been removed from any potential dangers that are up here," Bible said.

Ashford is now being held in the Beaver County Jail. He has not been charged in Forbes' disappearance, and she remains missing.