Boy taken from Starke home reunited with dad

STARKE, Fla. – A 4-year-old taken from his Bradford County home on Thursday is back with his father, and the babysitter accused of driving the boy nearly 200 miles away is under arrest.

A Bradford County Sheriff's Office deputy and the department's victim advocate drove Kenneth Waters to Palm Bay on Friday morning to be reunited with his son, Aiden.

The Sheriff's Office said the father called them at 11:10 p.m. to report that he got home from work and his son and the babysitter, 26-year-old Jessica Cox, were missing.

He tried to contact her and receive only a couple random text messages, then called her friends and family to try and locate her and his son, but they hadn't seen her.

Detectives learned that Cox was likely headed with her boyfriend to St. Lucie County and they notified the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

About the same time a statewide missing child alert was issued, Cox (pictured, right) was arrested by the Palm Bay Police department for driving under the influence and was booked into the Brevard County jail.

Bradford County Capt. Brad Smith said Palm Bay police found Cox after receiving a call about a suspicious vehicle driving erratically.

Authorities have put a hold on her release and are expected to bring her to Bradford County to face charges of child neglect and interference with custody.

Waters' next door neighbor is relieved that Aiden was found quickly and that the person who took him is in custody and won't have access to any other children anytime soon.

"I knew it wasn't necessarily a neighborhood problem, but it was a big concern," said David Grady. "You don't want anyone coming in your neighborhood taking anyone's kids."