MARION COUNTY, Fla. – New details about a woman abducted as a toddler and found more than 40 years later, leading to the arrest of her mother in The Villages.
The case has gained national attention because the child, who is now in her 40s, never knew she was listed as missing for decades. She is now navigating a relationship with a father she never knew, while her mother faces criminal charges.
Body camera footage from the arrest has gone viral. In the video, a neighbor in The Villages can be heard joking that police were coming for Sharon Nealy—only to have officers show up at her door moments later.
Investigators now say Nealy is actually Debra Newton, who allegedly left Louisville, Kentucky, with her then 3-year-old daughter in 1983 and disappeared without a word to her husband, Joe Newton.
“She’s always been in my heart,” Joe Newton said. “I can’t explain that moment of that woman walking in and getting to put my arms back around my daughter.”
In 1983, Joe and his wife Debra were planning a move from Kentucky to Georgia. Debra left early with their daughter, Michelle, also referred to as Melissa. When Joe arrived, they were gone.
“It’s hard to look at her as an adult, when I last seen her when she was a 3-year-old,” he said.
The emotional reunion between father and daughter began only after the arrest of her mother. Police showed up at the daughter’s home and delivered a stunning message.
“You’re not who you think you are. You’re a missing person. You’re Michelle Marie Newton,” officers told her, according to Michelle’s account.
Michelle Newton says she is now trying to support both her parents as they confront the past.
“My intention is to support them both through this and try to navigate and help them both just wrap it up so that we can all heal and hopefully, you know, there’s just apologies and start healing,” she said.
Marion County authorities confirmed to News 6 that the woman known as Sharon Nealy was identified through a CrimeStoppers tip.
She is expected to appear in court on Jan. 23.