LEHIGH COUNTY, Pa. — Authorities say the man who fled to Mexico with a teenager has been extradited to Lehigh County, Pennsylvania on Saturday. Kevin Esterly, 45, was taken into custody in Miami on Sunday, March 18. Authorities say he fled the country with 16-year-old Amy Yu who had been reported missing on March 5 after she left school on her own volition.
The two then traveled together to Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico where authorities would later locate them on March 17.
Prosecutors say the married father of four faces a felony charge of interference with the custody of a child. The county public defender’s office, listed in court documents as representing him, couldn’t be reached for comment Saturday.
The Lehigh County district attorney’s office said Saturday that 45-year-old Kevin Esterly arrived back in Allentown after being extradited from Miami, Florida.
CBS Philadelphia
It is alleged that the Esterly took Amy Yu from her school on multiple occasions between November 2017 and February 2018 and to Mexico on March 5, 2018 without the consent of Yu’s mother.
Yu’s mother told CBS News correspondent Meg Oliver she was so relieved when authorities found her daughter that she started crying.
Yu’s mother previously told Oliver that Esterly had befriended the family at church. They had become so close that she often went on his family’s vacations. On his Facebook page, Esterly often posted pictures of Yu hanging out with his own daughters.
“I can’t imagine what her mom was going through with her being missing,” said Kathleen Smith of Allentown told CBS Philadelphia. “It’s crazy.” Smith is a neighbor of the Yu family.
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