Recovered; Sep 27, 2006

A deputy US Marshal was responsible for the recovery of Shania Supanich in rural Montana on September 27, 2006. The missing girl had been with her non-custodial father who, cops say, abducted her two years ago.

Shania, now 9-years-old, actually ran up to the deputy as he interviewed neighbors while following up on a lead that the father and daughter were nearby.

Authorities say that the deputy then spoke with Mark Supanich on the phone and convinced him to surrender. At the time, he was working at a nearby construction site.

Police in Shania's hometown of Auburn, Washington had contacted the Marshals Service in April of 2006 in hopes that they could aid in tracking the pair down. A spokesman for the US Marhals says that Supanich and his daughter were staying with a friend and had planned to flee to another location in a few days.

Authorities say that Mark Supanich had previously fled to Arizona before hiding out in Montana.

Upon hearing the news of her recovery, Shania's mother, Sandy Pedigo began driving to Montana to be reunited with her daughter.

Mark Supanich was booked in Helena, Montana and was later extradited. While Supanich was arrested on a kidnapping charge, a jury in King County, Wash. eventually acquitted him in late 2007. Authorities tell AMW that the jury believed Supanich's argument that he took his daughter on the run to protect her from alleged abuse perpetrated by Shania's mother, Sandy Pedigro. While Supanich still faces a hearing in family court to restore visitation rights, his plight in the criminal courts has ended.