NEWPORT, R.I. -- A judge sent a 77-year-old Warwick woman to jail Monday for not telling her son-in-law where to find her two granddaughters, who have been missing for five years.
Mary Pigeon was taken to the women's unit of the state prison following her appearance in Newport County Superior Court.
Judge Mark A. Pfeiffer signed an order that will keep Pigeon in jail until she reveals the whereabouts of her granddaughters, Kimberly and Kelly Ann Yates, or she gives the identities of those who know where the children are.
'When you are prepared to cooperate with the court's order you can inform your counsel. I'll bring you back at that time and we will consider releasing you from your sentence,' Pfeiffer said.
Pigeon did not respond to the judge but, outside the courtroom, made a brief plea for help to her daughter, Elaine Yates.
'Elaine, I want you to please come home. Come home, Elaine,' Pigeon said.
The father of the children, Russell Yates Jr., said he is convinced his mother-in-law knows where his daughters are. He also criticized his ex-wife for abandoning her mother.
'If she can let her mother just sit there... then that's a different type of person that can do that. Could you do that to your mother?' he asked a reporter.
The judge told Pigeon last month she would go to jail if she did not disclose where the girls are, but Pigeon stuck to her contention that she does not know. The judge has concluded Pigeon does know the whereabouts of the children and the state Supreme Court has backed him up.
Pigeon's daughter, Elaine, took the children from their Warwick home in August 1985. Kimberly was 3 at the time, and Kelly Ann was 10 months. Yates' husband filed a civil suit against Pigeon in the hope of finding his children.
At first, Pfeiffer tried to persuade Pigeon to reveal where the children are by ordering her to do volunteer work at the Society for Young Victims, a Newport-based organization that looks for missing children.
Pigeon reported for work there, but did not reveal anything new about the children.
At an Aug. 15 hearing, Pigeon's lawyer, Daniel Schrock, said his client was scared about going to jail. He said he hoped Elaine Yates would contact Pigeon and somehow settle the matter.
Russell Yates said he was pleased with the prospect of Pigeon going to jail but skeptical about whether his mother-in-law would relent.
'She'll sit (in prison) until hell freezes over,' he said.
