Prosecutor files charges in child abduction case

The Marshall County Prosecutor’s OƯice announced the filing of charges against Bobbie Jo Novak today regarding an infant kidnapping investigation which began earlier this week.

In the late morning hours of Tuesday, July 7, 2026, deputies with the Marshall County SheriƯ’s Department were dispatched regarding a three-month-old child who had just been taken from his home on Del-Lo-Me Lane just east of Plymouth. Officers were able to get a description of the suspect from the child’s mother and a general description of the vehicle from neighbors in the area. The suspect, later identified as Bobbi Jo Novak, was an acquaintance of the child’s mother. OƯicers with the Indiana State Police and Plymouth Police Department arrived to assist with locating Novak and the child.

Once the vehicle Novak had been driving was identified, officers obtained the license plate number. They then began utilizing FLOCK Safety Cameras to search for the vehicle and also began the process of issuing an AMBER Alert. (The Department of Justice requires certain criteria to be met before an AMBER Alert can be issued, one of which is that there is enough descriptive information to release about the victim and the abduction to assist in the recovery of the child, including the suspect’s license plate.) However, before the AMBER Alert could be completed, officers had already located the vehicle in Merrillville, Indiana, using FLOCK Safety Cameras, which had photographed the vehicle along her route of travel through Starke, Porter, and Lake Counties.

The Merrillville Police Department was alerted to the situation, and officers were able to successfully apprehend Novak without incident, as well as safely recover the child, who was not harmed during the ordeal. Novak later admitted to taking the child and transporting him across county lines for personal reasons.

The Prosecutor’s OƯice has filed two counts of Kidnapping as Level 5 Felonies, one for the kidnapped person being under the age of 14 and one for kidnapping with the use of a vehicle. Novak is currently being held without bond until she has an initial hearing before the Court, currently scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in Marshall Superior Court 3.

The Prosecutor’s office would like to thank all agencies involved in this investigation for their considerable eƯorts to recover this child quickly and safely, before any more serious offenses could be committed.

The charging information filed in this case is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a Court of Law.