Whereabouts still sought for Sun Valley woman Claire Tourand, who fled with her four children
By Jaclyn O'Malley •
jomalley@rgj.com • November 20, 2009
This story originally appeared July 16, 2009. The case is still unsolved.
The Amber Alert that expanded to California to find a Sun Valley woman — who fled the area a week ago with her four children to avoid social services intervention — was canceled Wednesday night, officials said.
Washoe County Sheriff's Deputy Brooke Keast said the alert is over due to a lack of credible and timely tips into the whereabouts of Claire Camille Tourand, 34, and her four children, ages 4 to 9. The Nevada Amber Alert was canceled Monday after authorities began receiving tips in Southern California. Mono County, Calif., officials said it was reported the family was there Monday, but searches came up empty.
Keast said Thursday there were no new leads into Tourand's location, which authorities suspect is Mexico.
"We are still looking at all leads, but so far, none of them are hot and giving us direction," Keast said. "If we get any, which is still possible, we will reactivate the Amber Alert and start again."
Deputies believe she fled July 9, two days after she refused to take a court-ordered drug test, records show. Her mother last saw her around noon that day, and said she loaded the children, their backpacks and a television into her car, records show.
Tourand was supposed to attend a meeting July 10 with social workers to determine the "further care and welfare of the children," according to court documents. Child welfare services has been involved with her family since at least 2001, when she filed for a protection order against the father of four of her children. Records show that her former husband, Ivan Mata-Martinez, is not their biological father.
The FBI is also investigating, and on Tuesday, a federal warrant was issued for Tourand's arrest. A local warrant with a $50,000 cash only bail was issued Saturday for her arrest.
A note found in Ivan Mata-Martinez's property bin at the jail had directions for him to call his mother and "explain about the kids, and to wait one month and then pay rent ...once I go to Mexico, after one month (their youngest son) can go to Mexico with me."
The U. S. Border Patrol has been on alert from the beginning, Keast said.
Authorities said they are still investigating any role Mata-Martinez may have had in Tourand's flight from the area.
Tourand's additional children, 16 and 14, remain with her mother, Catherine Tourand, who became their legal guardian in 2002 after the court ordered Tourand placed the children in physical harm. Her oldest daughter suffers from mental retardation.
At the time Tourand fled, she had been freed from jail only a matter of months following her 9 month sentence from May 2008 for an incident involving the neglect of five of her children. Tourand, her mother, and a live-in boyfriend all pleaded guilty last year to child neglect, for making five of her children live in squalid conditions, not feeding or bathing them, and creating a situation where they could suffer physical or mental harm, records show.
Tourand and her mother live at the same Sun Valley home on Wewoka Way that social workers and police deemed had dangerous living conditions for her children. When the women were arrested last year, they owned several cats and dogs whose feces and urine covered every floor and pile of children's clothing.
There was also no hot water in the home, and had to be heated in a coffee pot so the children could have "sponge baths," according to a police report.
Social services had physical and legal custody of the four children. Tourand was granted temporary custody while social workers tried to reunite her with the children. She was court ordered to attend meetings, classes and to submit to random drug testings.
Officials said Tourand's mother told them Tourand had been frustrated with the "hoops" she felt she had to go through to regain custody of her children. The goal of child welfare workers is to reunite children, and place parents on a strict plan so they may work to get them back.
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http://www.rgj.com/article/20091120/NEWS0104/311200014/1004/news01/Whereabouts+still+sought+for+Sun+Valley+woman+Claire+Tourand++who+fled+with+her+four+children+
Whereabouts still sought for Sun Valley woman Claire Tourand, who fled with her four children
By Jaclyn O'Malley •
jomalley@rgj.com • November 20, 2009
This story originally appeared July 16, 2009. The case is still unsolved.
The Amber Alert that expanded to California to find a Sun Valley woman — who fled the area a week ago with her four children to avoid social services intervention — was canceled Wednesday night, officials said.
Washoe County Sheriff's Deputy Brooke Keast said the alert is over due to a lack of credible and timely tips into the whereabouts of Claire Camille Tourand, 34, and her four children, ages 4 to 9. The Nevada Amber Alert was canceled Monday after authorities began receiving tips in Southern California. Mono County, Calif., officials said it was reported the family was there Monday, but searches came up empty.
Keast said Thursday there were no new leads into Tourand's location, which authorities suspect is Mexico.
"We are still looking at all leads, but so far, none of them are hot and giving us direction," Keast said. "If we get any, which is still possible, we will reactivate the Amber Alert and start again."
Deputies believe she fled July 9, two days after she refused to take a court-ordered drug test, records show. Her mother last saw her around noon that day, and said she loaded the children, their backpacks and a television into her car, records show.
Tourand was supposed to attend a meeting July 10 with social workers to determine the "further care and welfare of the children," according to court documents. Child welfare services has been involved with her family since at least 2001, when she filed for a protection order against the father of four of her children. Records show that her former husband, Ivan Mata-Martinez, is not their biological father.
The FBI is also investigating, and on Tuesday, a federal warrant was issued for Tourand's arrest. A local warrant with a $50,000 cash only bail was issued Saturday for her arrest.
"All evidence shows that she is deliberately concealing her children from social services," said an affidavit filed in support of the local arrest warrant.
Records show Tourand was born in France. Court documents say that on multiple occasions, Tourand told people she intended on taking her four youngest children to Mexico City where they could be with their paternal grandparents. Mata-Martinez has been in the Washoe County Jail on identity theft-related charges.
A note found in Ivan Mata-Martinez's property bin at the jail had directions for him to call his mother and "explain about the kids, and to wait one month and then pay rent ...once I go to Mexico, after one month (their youngest son) can go to Mexico with me."
The U. S. Border Patrol has been on alert from the beginning, Keast said.
Authorities said they are still investigating any role Mata-Martinez may have had in Tourand's flight from the area.
Tourand's additional children, 16 and 14, remain with her mother, Catherine Tourand, who became their legal guardian in 2002 after the court ordered Tourand placed the children in physical harm. Her oldest daughter suffers from mental retardation.
At the time Tourand fled, she had been freed from jail only a matter of months following her 9 month sentence from May 2008 for an incident involving the neglect of five of her children. Tourand, her mother, and a live-in boyfriend all pleaded guilty last year to child neglect, for making five of her children live in squalid conditions, not feeding or bathing them, and creating a situation where they could suffer physical or mental harm, records show.
Tourand and her mother live at the same Sun Valley home on Wewoka Way that social workers and police deemed had dangerous living conditions for her children. When the women were arrested last year, they owned several cats and dogs whose feces and urine covered every floor and pile of children's clothing.
There was also no hot water in the home, and had to be heated in a coffee pot so the children could have "sponge baths," according to a police report.
Social services had physical and legal custody of the four children. Tourand was granted temporary custody while social workers tried to reunite her with the children. She was court ordered to attend meetings, classes and to submit to random drug testings.
Officials said Tourand's mother told them Tourand had been frustrated with the "hoops" she felt she had to go through to regain custody of her children. The goal of child welfare workers is to reunite children, and place parents on a strict plan so they may work to get them back.
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http://www.rgj.com/article/20091120/NEWS0104/311200014/1004/news01/Whereabouts+still+sought+for+Sun+Valley+woman+Claire+Tourand++who+fled+with+her+four+children+
The State of Nevada issued the Amber Alert Saturday morning (07-11) after the children were reportedly abducted on Friday (07-10) in Washoe county. They were last seen with the suspect in the Sun Valley area. Sun Valley is approximately 10 miles north of Reno.
Tyson Mata-Martinez (above left) a 4 year old white male, 2' 6", weighing 40 pounds.
Megan Mata-Martinez (above middle left) a 7 year old white female, 2'10" weighing 55 pounds.
Jakelyne Mata-Martinez (above middle right) an 8 year old white female, 3' weighing 60 pounds.
Ivan Mata-Martinez (above right) a 9 year old white male, 4' weighing 80 pounds.
The suspect is Claire Tourand, a white female, 34 Years old, 5' 8" and 220 pounbds with brown hair and hazel eyes.
The suspect vehicle is a 1998 white Mercury Sable with Nevada tag number 369-SDH.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911.
http://www.codeamber.com/martineznv/