UPDATE ON JAMIE KEIFER

Sadly I can only find this story on her today. Everything else was from last night. Someone is finally speaking out from her camp.


Child's mother had reached the end of her rope, a family friend says
7/24/2007 8:13:10 AMDaily Journal
By Leesha FaulknerDaily JournalJamie Kiefer tried every legal avenue to get her baby daughter back after she gave her up, but she met with roadblocks in each direction.She became despondent and desperate when she failed.Now she and her sister, Rikki Swann, are in jail in Cumberland County, N.C., charged with robbery and kidnapping in Mississippi after allegedly taking Jamie's biological daughter from the woman who wanted to adopt her. They also were charged in North Carolina with being fugitives from justice.Authorities are meeting with federal prosecutors to determine if the women will face federal charges, according to Jason Peck, an FBI special agent in Jackson. They claim the two women and a man burst into the Mantachie home of Jennifer and Matt Erickson, tied up Jennifer and took the baby to Fort Bragg, N.C. In North Carolina, Jamie and Rikki took refuge where Rikki lived with her husband before he was deployed to Afghanistan.Authorities are looking for two other people they believe helped take the baby.But family friend Debbie Williams of Itawamba County said the sisters didn't intend harm to the child or Jennifer Erickson. "Her story's not being told. I'm speaking for Jamie and her sister. She made mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes," Williams told the Daily Journal late Monday.Kiefer's story is told by Williams, who said she's known her 15 years.It begins a little more than a year ago when Jamie and Daniel Kiefer were married but having a rocky time. They have a 5-year-old son, Dominic. She became pregnant by her husband's brother, Jimmy Kiefer, who had decided to stay with them to serve out his parole on a Tishomingo manslaughter case.Williams said Jamie, who was home-schooled, hasn't had many life experiences. "She was sheltered," Williams said. "She was the baby of the family."On the other hand, Jimmy Kiefer was a smooth talker."He could con her into everything," the woman said. "She was having problems. She didn't know. It was just a bad situation."After Jamie became pregnant by Jimmy, she and Daniel divorced. On Feb. 1, she gave birth to the child she calls Cali Charmain Kiefer."When I went home from the hospital, I was deeply depressed," Jamie writes in an explanation of events. "I didn't want to talk to anyone or see anyone."Her ex-husband, Danny, took her into his home."Danny told me that he wanted to try to work things out between us and that it didn't matter to him that the baby wasn't his," Jamie writes. "He said that he would love that child, and if I saw fit, she would know no other father."By this time, said Williams, fighting put Jimmy Kiefer back in Marshall County Correctional Facility for violating his parole. His release date is Oct. 12.ChangesSoon after Cali's birth, Jamie said, she suffered from post-partum depression, a condition experienced by many mothers of newborns. Danny's attitude toward the infant changed, Jamie writes."He didn't even want to hold her, which just made me feel like I wanted to die," she tells in the written statement.Danny worked at Outback in Tupelo with Jennifer Floyd. Floyd knew about their situation, according to Jamie. Danny came home and told his ex-wife Floyd wanted to adopt Cali."She wanted to come and see my baby, and like an idiot I let her in my home to hold my baby," Jamie writes. "She sat there as I breast fed my daughter and told me how much Danny loved me and how she didn't think he could love my daughter."Through the haze of depression, Jamie said, she couldn't think straight. Floyd called the next few days, saying she and her boyfriend, Matt Erickson, wanted to adopt her baby, according to Jamie."Danny packed up her nursery, right down to the specially embroidered things I had made for her. He drove me to Dan Davis' office, an attorney in Tupelo, and had me sign some papers and hand her over. Then, boom, just like that, my Cali was gone," Jamie writes.She had signed away her parental rights.Davis declined to talk about the adoption proceedings Monday because he said he didn't have permission from his clients, the Ericksons.Williams said Jamie told Davis the next day that she had made a mistake and wanted her child back.Jamie writes: "I told Danny I couldn't handle it and that I wanted her back. He said it was too late, that we all made the decision that we felt was best and that I would be fine after some time went by."He also persuaded her to move to Maryland.Jamie comes homeJamie became more depressed, Williams continued. Her parents became concerned and traveled to Maryland to see for themselves. They brought her back. She went into mental therapy and began a legal battle to get her daughter back.Williams said Jamie hired Daniel Tucker, a Booneville attorney she paid $3,000. "Nothing was done," Williams said.Tucker couldn't be reached for comment Monday. A message was left at his home after hours.Jamie writes she officially protested the pending adoption May 11. A hearing date was set for September in Chancery Court, according to Williams, who said she didn't know much about it.After a hearing to set a trial date, Jamie remained unsatisfied, said Williams. She went to the Department of Human Services in Tishomingo County several days ago to plead for some kind of emergency visitation she'd heard she might be able to get. The woman at DHS said she couldn't help Jamie because she had signed away her parental rights. Danny Kiefer met his ex-wife at the DHS office.That was the last time Williams saw or heard from Jamie and her sister.Now, Jamie and Rikki are charged with single counts of robbery and kidnapping in Mississippi, and their mother, Charmain Trist, was trying to get them an attorney. She's also in North Caroline to retrieve Dominic and Swann's two children, ages 6 and 1, who were with the women when authorities raided the Fort Bragg apartment where they had taken refuge.Today, the Ericksons are back in Mississippi with the infant they call Madison.Weeks before, Jamie wrote: "I miss my little girl every moment of every day and look forward to rocking her and singing to her the way I did when she was in my womb."Contact Daily Journal county-courts reporter Leesha Faulkner at 678-1590 or leesha.faulkner@djournal.com. Hear Debbie Williams' story on Clearing the Cobwebs at www.djournal.com