Grand jury returns indictment charging woman with kidnapping half sister’s newborn from Wis.

MADISON, Wis. – A federal grand jury has indicted a woman accused of kidnapping her half sister’s newborn in Wisconsin and leaving him behind an Iowa gas station.

Jurors in Madison, Wis., returned the indictment Wednesday charging Kristen Smith with kidnapping, which carries a maximum prison sentence of life.

The indictment was expected after the FBI filed a criminal complaint accusing Smith in the Feb. 6 kidnapping of newborn Kayden Powell.

Smith’s been jailed in Iowa since her arrest, hours after the baby went missing. Federal authorities will transfer Smith to Wisconsin before a Friday court appearance.

Investigators say Smith took the baby from a Town of Beloit, Wis., home where her half sister was staying, and left him in West Branch, Iowa, in freezing temperatures. He was found alive 29 hours later.

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