MANSFIELD — Haylee Donathan is coming home.
The 4-year-old Crestline girl, the subject of a month-long nationwide manhunt, was found unharmed Tuesday afternoon at a Christian retreat center near San Diego. Authorities found Haylee with fugitive sex offender Robbi Potter and her mother, Candace Watson. They were arrested without incident.
“I believe they were a little shocked that we were able to find them,” U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott said Tuesday night at a news conference outside the Richland County sheriff’s department.
The Richland County division of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force and U.S. Marshals, who formed a partnership in January, have been working the case around the clock.
“These guys haven’t slept in a week,” Elliott said of the task force officers standing behind him. “They’ve been crabby, believe it or not.”
Mary Watson, Haylee’s grandmother, thanked the task force and the media for their efforts.
“I want to hold her,” she said. “I probably won’t let her go.”
Haylee has been a top priority since authorities learn- ed she might be with Potter, 27, who walked away from the local Volunteers of America on May 28. In 2006, he was sentenced to three years in prison for two counts of sexual battery. The victims in that case were 7 and 9.
Candace Watson’s family had not heard from her since May 31, when she told her mother she was dropping off Potter in Bucyrus.
The last sighting of Watson was June 2 at a gas station in Stratton, Colo. She was seen getting out of a distinctive two-tone green and black pickup to pay for fuel.
Mary Watson was awarded emergency custody late last week in hopes law enforcement could issue an Amber Alert. Local attorneys Charles Lynch and Heather Cockley took her case pro bono. Haylee’s story was to be featured Saturday on “America’s Most Wanted.”
Elliott said tips led authorities to Haylee, Potter and Candace Watson, who were in the same pickup caught on surveillance camera in Colorado. They were arrested around 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.
“Candace had dyed her hair a little darker,” Elliott said. “Robbi had changed his appearance a little bit.”
As for Haylee, the U.S. Marshal said she appeared happy and relatively healthy.
“The only thing we have heard is she may have a case of the chicken pox,” Elliott said.
Elliott, wearing a gray suit and gold tie, addressed the media on a still, warm night. Cleveland and Columbus TV stations, as well as CNN Headline News, scrambled to set up equipment.
Sheriff Steve Sheldon and a few task force officers milled about minutes before the news conference, while Mary Watson and Haylee’s other loved ones sat on a bench alongside the building.
Elliott said Potter, Candace Watson and Haylee had been at the Christian retreat center for about a week. He said he didn’t know what they were doing there, adding the facility also had a rehab center.
Potter had two warrants for probation violations, while Watson was wanted for complicity to escape. The pair face additional charges.
Mary Watson didn’t want to believe her daughter willingly went on the run with a sex offender.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I can’t answer that. ... I don’t know.”
Crestline police Chief Tim McClaran and Drew Deserto, of the U.S. Marshals, both said Haylee might not have been found without the task force.
“We were able to filter through all these tips,” Deserto said. “Ultimately, we got that one great tip.”
Elliott agreed.
“They (task force officers) made a promise that they were going to bring back little Haylee safely, and they have done that,” he said. “It’s a good day.”
