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Fri. 11:23 pm: NY couple arrested in Amish girls’ kidnapping

ALBANY, N.Y. – A northern New York couple was arrested today in the kidnapping of two Amish sisters from their family’s roadside farm stand, a prosecutor says.

St. Lawrence County’s District Attorney Mary Rain said 39-year-old Stephen Howells and 25-year-old Nicole Vaisey of Hermon were each charged today with two counts of first-degree kidnapping.

She said they were in custody awaiting arraignment tonight and additional charges are possible.

The sisters vanished Wednesday evening in Oswegatchie, touching off a massive search in the farming community near the Canadian border.

They turned up safe Thursday night at the door of a house 15 miles from their home.

Searchers had scoured the farming community of about 4,000 people, in a hunt hampered by a lack of photos of the girls for authorities to circulate. The Amish typically avoid modern technology, and the family had to work with an artist who spoke their language, a German dialect known as Pennsylvania Dutch, to produce a sketch of the older girl.

The girls are among the youngest of Mose and Barb Miller’s 13 children, who range in age from 1 to 21 years, said neighbor Dot Simmons. The girls routinely took on the chore of selling the fruits, vegetables, jams and other products of the farm and had left the rest of their family during evening milking when they saw the car at the stand.

The episode left a sense of vulnerability in a community where residents said even small children often walk unaccompanied to school.

“One thing that comes from this is that people learn this can happen in a small town,” St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain said. “I think the public will take precautions, and that’s the sad thing.”

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