Missing-kids probe spurs more charges

A preliminary hearing is set for Friday for Dennis Reed.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The investigation into the weeklong disappearance of three children whose mother turned up dead Sunday has yielded more charges after police talked to one of the children.
Dennis Reed, 30, also known as Chuck, faces two additional kidnapping charges in Lawrence County. He had originally faced one count of kidnapping after being arrested Saturday in Butler, Pa.
The three children, ages 5, 6 and 8, were found unharmed with Reed, but police discovered cocaine and a firearm on him. He was jailed after failing to post $50,000 bond on drug and firearm charges filed by Butler police.
The children's mother, Wendy Miller, 28, of Sankey Street was found Sunday along the banks of Neshannock Creek in New Castle. An autopsy revealed that she died of a gunshot wound to the back of her head sometime around Dec. 16. Miller's brother reported her and the three children missing Dec. 17.
Search warrants: District Attorney Matthew Mangino said that they are still investigating her death and that no one has been charged. Police have executed search warrants looking for the shotgun that killed her, he said. Mangino would not comment on what was found.
According to an affidavit filed to support the additional kidnapping charges, Reed, who police said is a boyfriend of Miller's forced his way into her home Dec. 15 and punched her.
One of the children told police that Miller and Reed went into another room, where they were heard arguing, and then Miller came back and instructed the children to get dressed, the court document said.
Reed drove Miller and the three children to Neshannock Village, a public housing complex in New Castle, where they left the children in the car and Miller and Reed walked to the nearby woods, the affidavit said.
Reed returned alone and drove the children to Butler. They lived out of a vehicle until they were found, the court document said.
Reed is expected to appear Friday before District Justice Melissa Amodie for a preliminary hearing on the original kidnapping charge. Amodie said he will be arraigned on the two additional kidnapping charges at that time.
Protection order: Court documents show that Miller did have a temporary protection-from-abuse order against Reed, which instructed him to stay away from Miller and her children. It stemmed from Dec. 13, when Miller told police that Reed slapped, choked and threatened to kill her, according to court papers.
The two were scheduled to appear in court last Friday to determine if the protection-from-abuse order would become permanent.
Mangino said it was unclear if Reed had ever been served with those papers before Miller's death.

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