Three children missing from Ohio found; fugitive arrested

Sandra Chereb

Tuesday, July 28, 1998 | 8:26 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Three children who disappeared from their home two weeks ago in Ohio are in protective custody here and their alleged abductor is behind bars.

Brian Scott Mayhorn, 32, wanted on a warrant from Ohio on a charge of statutory rape, was arrested without incident Monday after a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper made a routine check of his license plate.

Police in Minerva, Ohio, and the FBI also have been looking for Mayhorn in connection with the disappearance of three siblings - Tyler Brown, 14; Amanda Palmer, 11; and Wayne Palmer, 10.

The children, who were in Mayhorn's car when he was arrested, were last seen by their mother on July 13.

"It appears that they knew who this guy was," NHP spokesman Tony Almaraz said of the children. "They didn't appear to have any fear at the time of the arrest."

The children did not appear to be harmed and were placed in protective custody, authorities said. It was not immediately known when they would be reunited with their family.

Mayhorn was booked into the Washoe County Jail on the fugitive warrant pending extradition proceedings. He could be arraigned later this week.

FBI spokesman Aurelio Flores said Mayhorn also may face kidnapping charges.

Mayhorn said from prison that he did not take the children against their will. He said they had been planning to leave their home for about two months. He would not say why the children wanted to leave other than to say it was a "situation" they did not like.

"They've all maintained that they never want to go home," Mayhorn said of the children. "I love them kids."

The mother, Michele Palmer, told investigators the children were watching television when she went to an all-night store outside Minerva, about 60 miles southeast of Cleveland.

Because they were supposed to go to bed after they were finished watching TV, Ms. Palmer said she assumed they were asleep when she returned about two hours later.

She discovered them missing the next morning, and called police after checking with nearby relatives.

The case was featured on a recent episode of the TV show "America's Most Wanted."

Police in Minerva have described Mayhorn as a drifter, and said he had lived for about a year at a motel near town that is owned by the children's grandmother.

Neighbors said the children often played at the motel.