Major update in missing Florida mother and daughter case

A missing 3-year-old girl from South Miami has been found safe — but her mother says there was never any mystery about her whereabouts.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued a missing child alert for Shea Eminhizer Saturday night, saying she might be with her mother, Christine Betancourt, 41, who was considered “armed and dangerous.”

Betancourt told police that friends notified her of the missing child alert, so she arranged to turn Eminhizer over to police Tuesday and to the child's father, Jeremy Eminhizer.

The couple is currently in a custody battle and a divorce that went sour last week when a Miami-Dade judge granted the father an emergency motion to get his daughter back, 7 News Miami reports. Attorneys for each side responded to the motion by filing several motions of their own.

However, Betancourt and his attorney, Sam Rabin, told the outlet that Shea “never disappeared” and they will sue Eminhizer for his false statements.

“The child was always with her mother,” Rabin said. “There was never a report that she was with her own mother. She was never armed. She has a gun that she never took possession of. She bought it and left it at a shooting range. She never even owned a gun. So the report was false. The father knew she was going on vacation.”

Betancourt added that Eminhizer filed the missing child complaint “to force me into this situation and to punish me.”

Eminhizer, who declined to comment on the abuse allegations, told 7 News Miami: “I’m just grateful to have her home. She’s safe and I’m happy to have her home with her family. Thank you all for all your coverage, thank you for getting the word out for us. We’re so grateful and thankful for everything you’ve done, so thank you.”

No charges were filed Tuesday in connection with the case.

Rabin said this situation should not have happened even though the judge had warned that if a time-sharing agreement was not implemented, the child could be removed on Saturday. The deadline set by the judge was the same day the missing child alert was issued, the outlet reported.

“We respect the court's decision, that's why we brought the child here today and we hope that an appeals court will overturn it,” Rabin said.

7 News Miami reports that Betancourt's attorneys are expected to speak to the media on Wednesday.

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