Crime & Safety
Salem Mother, Son Charged After Missing Ohio Teen Found in Home
An Ohio teenager was found in a Salem home after a mother and son allegedly plotted to bring the teen to Massachusetts.
SALEM, MA – Katarina Bitterman, a 17-year-old girl from Parma, OH, was found in Salem on March 10, after she was reported missing six days earlier.
Bitterman was found unharmed at the residence of Michael H. Julien, 19, and his mother, Renee M. Hanson, 43, both of Salem. Parma Police detectives and FBI agents out of the Cleveland Field Office determined that Bitterman was staying at the mother and son's home.
According to an FBI statement, investigators found that Julien and Hanson plotted to bring Bitterman to Salem to live with them. Hanson allegedly went to Ohio alone on March 4, and picked Bitterman up near her home after her parents were gone.
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The pair were indicted on charges of inducing panic, interfering with custody, and obstructing justice by a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury on Monday. According to the FBI statement, all charges are fifth-degree felonies.
Bitterman will also be charged with one count of inducing panic.
Find out what's happening in Salemfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Image via Ohio Attorney General, Katarina Bitterman
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