Mom Accused In 4-Year-Old's Kidnapping Hoax Awaiting Extradition To IL

ROCK ISLAND, IL — A Rock Island woman accused of filing a false police report claming that her 4-year-old daughter was abducted during a car theft was arrested Thursday afternoon in Jefferson County, Wis. Unbeknownst to police, it turned out that the child had been safe at home during the search and that the mother had been lying to police the entire time.

Princess Ilunga, 37, is awaiting extradition to Illinois on a felony charge of filing a false police report.

The morning of Jan. 16, Ilunga told Rock Island police that her car had been stolen while it was left running in front of her residence and that her 4-year-old daughter, Blessing Aoci, was inside the vehicle, police said.

An extensive nine-hour search was conducted involving hundreds of police officers and volunteers until Blessing was found outside her residence just before 3 p.m. During the search, police said Ilunga hesitated in letting officers searched the home. Ilunga had removed her daughter’s pink jacket and told officers that Blessing was another child in the family, according to Rock Island police.

Seven young children, all close together in age and bearing a family resemblance, were also in the home. While Ilunga spoke good English, albeit with an accent, police said she instructed the children in Swahili to go along with ruse.

“From the moment the 911 call was made, our officers were lied to, with the only thing being true that the car had been stolen after she left it running,” Rock Island Police Chief Tim McCloud said during a news conference earlier this week.

When Blessing turned up “remarkably unharmed and warm” just before 3 p.m. that afternoon, police began working to determine Blessing’s whereabouts the during the nine hours she had been reported missing. Police said the child was unable to give any information about her whereabouts.

“Fortunately, we have a Rock Island officer that speaks fluent Swahili,” McCloud said. “We watched [body-cam footage]. From the moment we talked to [Ilunga and an aunt], they were very distraught. They were believable.”

When Rock Island police determined that Ilunga had been lying about her daughter’s “abduction,” the family stopped cooperating with the investigation, McCloud said.

A warrant was issued for Ilunga’s arrest on Thursday, but by then police said she had vanished as well as the seven children.

Just after 5 p.m. Thursday, Ilunga was stopped by the Wisconsin State Patrol for a suspended registration and an equipment violation, a news release said. Ilunga was identified as the driver and taken into custody on the outstanding warrant.

The seven children were also in the vehicle at the time of the stop. They were later taken to the Lake Mills Police Department, where they were cared for until their father, Richard Aoci, arrived to pick them up just before 10 p.m.

An 18-year-old man and four juveniles were charged in connection to a rash of vehicle thefts. McCloud said a kidnapping charge against a 16-year-old boy accused of stealing Ilunga’s vehicle has been dropped, but the vehicle theft charge still stands.