Iowa City woman accused of taking child, hiding from police in woods

IOWA CITY - According to Iowa City police criminal complaints, officers were called to the 200 block of Taft Speedway around 8 p.m. Thursday for a woman who had taken a 6-year-old child from a home there. The woman was identified as Amy L. Green, 35.

Authorities said Green has a history of substance abuse and mental health issues and had no permission to take the child.

Witnesses told police they had last seen Green and the child going into a wooded area south of Taft Speedway and north of the Iowa River. Iowa City police and fire, as well as deputies from the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, searched the area on foot, by boat and with K9s, police said.

Four hours into the search, deputies found Green and the child along the shore of the Iowa River 'hiding under thick brush,” police said. Police said Green had told the child to 'stay quiet or he'd never seen his dad again,” if officers found them.

Police said the boy was 'cold, wet, tired” and had bug bites and scratches from being in the woods.

Authorities said Green appeared to be under the influence of an amphetamine when police spoke with her. She admitted to 'taking, hiding and otherwise concealing” the child to keep him from his relatives, according to reports. Criminal complaints do not indicate why Green took the child.

Green was arrested and faces charges of child stealing, a Class C felony; and child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor.