Wake County woman arrested in Vance County child abduction case

A northern Wake County woman was arrested in Charlotte after Vance County deputies linked her to a child abduction report that was filed Monday. Authorities said the case moved quickly from a local missing-child call to a cross-county search that ended in Charlotte.

The Vance County Sheriff's Office said detectives developed information that led them to believe the suspect and the child were in Charlotte. Investigators then used automated camera data to narrow the location, and the child and suspect were found there with the help of Flock cameras.

Authorities identified the suspect as 44-year-old Candice Deyoung. CBS17 described her as a northern Wake County resident, and WRAL identified her as the woman accused of abducting the child to Charlotte, where she was arrested.

The case shows how quickly a child-abduction investigation can move when one sheriff's office hands off leads to another jurisdiction and technology fills in the gaps between counties. In this case, Vance County detectives had to turn a report made in their county into an active search that reached into the Charlotte area, where officers were able to locate both the child and Deyoung.

For Wake County families, the arrest highlights how easily a suspect can move out of one county and into another before an investigation is fully developed. It also shows why local and regional law-enforcement links matter when a child is believed to be at risk, especially when investigators are working across the Triangle and into larger metro areas such as Charlotte.