A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 27 at 9 a.m. in Boone County Court for Joy Ariel Smith; the 24-year-old Columbia woman suspected in a December 2025 kidnapping case.
Smith was charged with two counts of second-degree kidnapping and one count of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle after she allegedly stole a vehicle with two children in it as the children’s mother gave Smith a ride to someone else’s house, according to court documents.
That led to an Amber Alert in Columbia on Dec. 18, 2025. The Missouri State Highway Patrol was later able to stop the vehicle on Interstate 70 in Lafayette County and retrieve the children safely.