OLD TOWN, Maine — Old Town police won’t be charging the man who took his stepdaughter out of state last week, prompting a police search that ended with the stepfather being taken into custody in New Hampshire.
“Basically, the victims [the teenager and her mother] just decided not to continue with pursuing anything, so we’ve closed out the case,” Capt. Lee Miller said Wednesday afternoon.
A charge of interference with custody of a child filed by the Hampton, New Hampshire, police, however, still stands, a Hampton Police Department dispatcher confirmed.
Police began searching for 15-year-old Natalee Cote and her 43-year-old stepfather, Christopher Julian, when Cote’s mother reported her missing after Julian picked her up at school on Sept. 12.
Cote reportedly left willingly with her stepfather at the time, but investigators determined the following morning, after receiving additional information, that the girl might be endangered. An arrest warrant was issued for Julian for criminal restraint. Police also said Julian turned off his and Cote’s cellphones.
Julian was taken into custody and questioned on Sept. 13 after he was recognized by a Hampton hotel clerk, who contacted police. Julian was soon released, however, and told a Portland television station WGME, CBS 13, reporter that the incident was a misunderstanding.
The girl’s mother went to New Hampshire to pick up her daughter, police said at the time.