Missing 5-week-old boy found in good condition and babysitter he was with booked with aggravated kidnapping after Sheriff’s Office and FBI agents worked through the night

Sarah Harris at the Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau

Sheriff”s Dep. Eric Wickboldt handcuffs Sarah Harris to transfer her from the Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau to Parish Prison. to be booked with aggravated kidnapping.

A missing 5-week-old Slidell boy was found in good condition early Sunday morning and the babysitter he was left with was booked with aggravated kidnapping after Sheriff’s Office and FBI agents worked through Saturday night, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

“This was a great outcome, the best it could have been,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. “The longer something like this goes on the less likely the chance is for a good outcome.” He added, “This was a job well done by our people and the FBI agents who put in a lot of time with it, working all night. We appreciate all the help we received from them.’’ The sheriff himself took part in running down leads during Saturday night.

The infant, Tristan Douglas, was found with babysitter, Sarah Harris, 48, of Guerra Drive in Violet, about 7:30 a.m. Sunday while she was walking on Congress Street off Chef Menteur Highway near apartments in eastern New Orleans, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

The FBI and Sheriff’s Office developed information which led to the pair, the sheriff said, after spending Saturday night tracking down leads on where Hughes had been with the child.

The boy, described as slightly dehydrated but otherwise in good condition, was taken to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans to be examined and his mother, Takisha Douglas of Slidell, was expected to be reunited with him at the hospital, Sheriff Pohlmann said. The babysitter had been given a quantity of powdered baby formula for the child, authorities said.

Harris was last seen Friday when the boy’s mother dropped him off at the babysitter’s residence in Violet in eastern St. Bernard, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

Harris was last seen on Friday morning when the mother dropped off the infant for her to babysit while the mother went to work.

Harris had last been heard of at midday Friday when both the mother and her boyfriend said they spoke to her in separate cell phone calls and Harris told them she was going to a store in New Orleans.

However, no supporting evidence was ever found by police to substantiate she had been to the store she mentioned, authorities said.

A 2014 black 4-door Dodge Charger with a Louisiana license plate which police were looking for after the babysitter disappeared wasn’t found during her arrest, the sheriff said.

Harris was initially taken to the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau for debriefing and afterwards was transferred to St. Bernard Parish Prison to be booked with aggravated kidnapping of the child, the sheriff said.

The disappearance was initially reported by the child’s mother to New Orleans police on Friday after calls to Harris’ cell phone were going to voice mail. The St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office handled the investigation because the last place Harris and the child were seen was at her residence in St. Bernard, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

The mother has known Harris for several years, Sheriff Pohlmann said, but this was the first time she had left the infant with Harris to babysit.