UPDATE: State of RI dismisses abduction charge against Elaine Yates

By: Samantha Fenlon

sfenlon@abc6.com

Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin announced on Wednesday that the State of Rhode Island has dismissed the charge against Elaine Yates.

A release issued by the office of the Attorney General stated that: "after reviewing all of the evidence in this case, most significantly evidence that was not available or unknown to investigators prior to the discovery and apprehension of Ms. Yates, the laws in effect in 1988, when Ms. Yates left Rhode Island with her two daughters, and the fact that the well-being of the missing children has been established, the charge against Ms. Yates is dismissed in the interest of justice."

The attorney for Elaine Yates, the woman arrested last week for snatching her children 30 years ago, says her client was forced to flee because of years of abuse by her now ex-husband.

In fact, attorney Bethany Macktaz calls the decision to arrest and charge Yates a terrible mistake that needs to be fixed.

"She suffered years of torture and abuse at the hands of her now ex–husband. This was widely known at the time,” said Macktaz.

Macktaz says Yates, who now goes by the name Liana Waldberg, fled Rhode Island three decades ago because she had no other choice.

"She is scared to death,” said Macktaz. “She worked for 30 years to try and hide from him and was successful at it. And, now he knows how to find her, he knows where is located and she is petrified."

A paper trail dating back to the 80’s sheds some light into what Russell Yates, Elaine’s ex husband, had to say about his wife and kids disappearance way back then.

In an affidavit from 1985 the children’s father writes that he was a fit parent that had a good relationship with his kids.

The paperwork also includes a statement saying that Elaine Yates had made contact with police shortly after she fled to say she was safe, but refused to give an address.

Macktaz tells ABC 6 News she wants the case against Yates dropped.

"We are confident that the Attorney General will rectify his mistake, dismiss these warrantless charges against my client and more importantly help put a plan in place to protect her in the future from this violent man,” said Macktaz.

Back in 1988, Russell Yates told the Providence Journal that his wife had discovered he had been unfaithful and threatened to leave. During that same interview he admitted to punching her during that argument. It was a few weeks later that she took off.

The Executive Director for the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Deb DeBare, says because there were no laws back in 1985 against domestic violence cases like Yates’ were very common.

"It was really quite common in the early 1980’s for victims of domestic violence to feel like they had to flee because they couldn’t find safety in their own community,” said DeBare. "It wasn’t until 1988 when Rhode Island passed the domestic violence prevention act that actually made it codified that you couldn’t assault your wife or partner."

DeBare says since news of the Yates case broke they have seen an increase in the volume of people calling looking for information and resources.

Yates is currently back in Texas. A pre-trial conference in her case is scheduled for next month.

(C) WLNE 2017