Umbrella cockatoo (Cacatua alba) playing with a toy.WASHINGTON (AFP) — Police in the southern US state of Louisiana have arrested a woman who allegedly traded two young children for an exotic bird and a bit of cash, the lead detective on the case said Friday.
Donna Greenwell, a 51-year-old long distance trucker, has been charged with aggravated kidnapping and is being held in jail on a bond of 100,000 dollars after she allegedly swapped a four- and five-year-old in her care for a cockatoo and 175 dollars, the lead detective on the case, Keith Dupre, said.
The story began several weeks ago when Greenwell pulled her cattle truck into a livestock dealer's to make a delivery, Dupre said.
A couple -- 27-year-old Brandy Lynn Romero and her husband Paul, 46 -- had put up a flier at the dealer's, advertising a cockatoo they had for sale for 1,500 dollars.
"Ms Greenwell saw the picture of the cockatoo along with the phone number, and with her raising birds already, she called them up," Dupre said.
"The conversation started with buying the cockatoo but when Greenwell found out they were a childless couple, it led up to trading the bird for the kids," he said.
The deal was sealed, and Greenwell handed over a five-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl to the Romeros in exchange for the bird and 175 dollars.
"They knew it was wrong, but they were just overwhelmed. They're just a couple that was unable to have kids together, had been trying for 10 years, and just thought that they could get the kids the way they did," said Dupre.
The Romeros have also been charged with aggravated kidnapping but were released on bail, which was set much lower for them than for Greenwell, who has "a long criminal history, which includes earlier charges of aggravated kidnapping, a sexual offense, theft and burglary," Dupre said.
In another bizarre twist to the story, the children weren't even Greenwell's biological offspring.
"The best we could figure out, their mother and father were separated, the mother was going through tough times and asked the lady (Greenwell) to watch her kids for a while," said Dupre.
The boy and girl have been handed over to child welfare services and placed in the care of foster parents, where according to Dupre, they were being "very well cared for."