Man is arrested after taking kids

LEHI — Police arrested a man Tuesday night after they say he took his three children from their home in Provo and threatened to kill them.

State law enforcement officials issued an Amber Alert for the young children around 8:30 p.m. The alert was canceled a few minutes later after police took the 35-year-old Lehi man into custody near Point of the Mountain.

Christopher W. Young and his wife Adella have been separated for three weeks and are just beginning to undergo a divorce, according to the Amber Alert. Adella Young said her husband told her he was going to take their children to the park but instead he packed his children — a 6-year-old boy, 4-year-old girl and a 20-month girl — into his green 2005 Chevrolet and drove north on I-15. Adella Young told KSL News her husband's plan was to drive them off the cliff. She said he told her if he couldn't have the kids, neither could she, and if she wanted to see them again she would just have to wait until she was in heaven.

Adella Young said she immediately called the police who were able to get Christopher Young on the phone and talked to him for two hours, dissuading him from harming his kids while trying to determine where he had taken them.

Christopher Young reportedly told police he would let his wife talk to the kids, and in an emotional conversation, they said what might have been their final goodbyes. The 6-year-old boy told his mother they were on a hill with a lot of grass and cars. Young, however refused to tell his wife where he had taken the kids.

"He said we would know where he was when we read about it in the papers," Adella Young said during an interview with KSL.

After detaining Young, police took him to the hospital possibly to check mental stability, Adella Young said. The kids were returned unharmed to their mother.

"The two older ones know what happened, they realize Daddy almost took them to heaven and they know something's not right," Adella Young said.

According to the Amber Alert, the man has a history of violence, child abuse and suicide attempts. Police said they believed he wanted to hurt himself and the children. They said the children were in danger.

The 4-year-old daughter has a kidney disorder that requires her to take a specific medication every three days. Missing her medication could be fatal, the alert said.

Utah's last Amber Alert ended with children found safe following an abduction by a noncustodial parent.

Box Elder County authorities called for the alert Dec. 30 after two boys, ages 12 and 7, were allegedly taken from their custodial grandmother's house. A day later, they were found in Ivins, Washington County, with their mother who police reported as having a history of mental instability.

---

Contributing: Laura Hancock

E-mail: jelder@desnews.com