McALESTER — Glenda Broadway says she still waits for authorities to retrieve her 2-year-old daughter, Akia Broadway, from Iowa after she says a man took her child out of state and kept her without consent.

“She is in Stuart, Iowa,” Broadway said. Local authorities “told me that finding Akia would be like finding a needle in a haystack.”

She said Stuart, Iowa, is barely a fraction of the size of McAlester.

She said someone in the man’s family called telling her he had taken Akia to Stuart, Iowa.

On May 14, Glenda Broadway said the 2-year-old went to a park with the man and when he didn’t return with the child, she went to the park and neither the child nor the man was there.

Since then, Broadway said she has been trying to get the child back.

When asked if the man is the child’s father, Broadway said paternity had not yet been established, but he is potentially Akia’s biological father.

According to Pittsburg County court documents, a petition was filed May 10 with Pittsburg County to “establish paternity, custody, visitation and other child related matters.” Broadway said not only had paternity not been established, but no visitation or agreements have been set in place on behalf of Akia.

Broadway said in May, and since then, she has continued to plead to the McAlester Police Department, Pittsburg County child welfare and local attorneys for help. She said all have told her there is nothing that can be done. But on Aug. 28, she said a police report was made after she presented police with a “pick up order” for the child from the state of Iowa.

Broadway said she had went though legal aid and obtained a lawyer from Iowa. She said she faxed proof of custody and all legal documents pertaining to Akia and the state of Iowa issued the order.

According to the Iowa District Court Polk County document, the order was filed Aug. 23. The court document reads in part, “It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed any Iowa law enforcement agency having jurisdiction where the child is located shall use reasonable means and force to recover custody of the child listed below (Akia Broadway) and deliver the child to Glenda Broadway and/or her attorneys with Iowa Legal Aid.”

Before there was a police report made, Assistant District Attorney Wes Cherry said he told Broadway he cannot give legal advice and to seek private counsel.

“All the DA’s office can do is prosecute,” Cherry said. “And, we can only do that after police have investigated and filed the report with us.”

Broadway said she has presented Iowa’s “pick-up order” as well as custody documents to Pittsburg County courts. On Thursday, an order to enforce child custody in the case was filed with the Pittsburg County Courthouse.

The Pittsburg County court document reads in part, “The court finds that the Respondent ... has removed said minor child (Akia Broadway) from the custody of the petitioner (Glenda Broadway) and will not return the minor child (Akia Broadway) to petitioner (Glenda Broadway).

“The present residence of the of the respondent ... is unknown and cannot be obtained at this time by the petitioner (Glenda Broadway).”

“The court finds that an emergency exists and the court wants to insure the safety and proper care of the minor child.”

The document goes on to order and decree the man to bring immediate custody of Akia Broadway to Glenda Broadway and that all law enforcement officers and agencies enforce the custody.

Broadway said she doesn’t have a physical address for the man she believes has her daughter. But according to U.S. Census Bureau’s last update on July 31, there are approximately 1,629 people in the Iowa community, six of whom are black.

The man is black, she said.

“There’s only six black folks and (he) is one of them,” she said. “I think they (local authorities and assisting Iowa police) can find him.”

Friday, MPD Det. Capt. Gary Wansick said a detective is assigned to the case and has presented it to the DA’s office. Wansick said Assistant District Attorney Richard Hull is looking at the case for further review regarding possible criminal charges.

Hull did not return a call from the News-Capital left Friday.

“I’m begging someone to bring my daughter back to me,” Glenda Broadway said.

“Put yourself in my shoes,” Broadway said.

Friday, McAlester resident Teresa Marcum contacted the McAlester News-Capital about Broadway’s child.

“Why was there never an Amber Alert issued?” she asked.

Marcum said she looked up guidelines  for an Amber Alert and she said this situation seems to meet those guidelines.

“That’s just what needed to be done,” she said. “Had an Amber Alert been issued, I believe things would have been much different.”

The Amber Alert guidelines are listed at www.amberalert.gov and can be found by clicking the guidelines tab to the left-hand side of the web page.