Mother of Amber Alert children also is wanted on aggravated battery charge

The mother of the four children who are the subject of an Amber Alert is also wanted by law enforcement for her role in a home invasion in July at her husband’s residence that left her with gunshot wounds, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Jowella Gadeaun, 12; Joseph Gadeaun Jr., 10; Jacqueline Gadeaun, 8; and Jocelyn Gadeaun, 6, were reported missing at 5 p.m. Friday by their grandmother, who has temporary custody of them.

They are said to be with 40-year-old Jaima Gadeaun in a 2016 dark green Toyota Corolla with a license plate number BNZQ08.

Anyone with information about Gadeaun’s and her children’s whereabouts should call 911 or contact a local law enforcement agency.

Since the alert was issued Wednesday night, the sheriff’s office has received some information in the case but still had been unable to find the children, according spokesman Dave Bristow.

Jowella Gadeaun is said to be 5-feet tall, weighing 133 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt and white and gray sweatpants.

Joseph Gadeaun is said to be 4-foot-10, 120 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a dark-colored shirt with bears on it and black shorts.

Jacqueline Gadeaun is said to be 4-feet tall, 65 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a green top and neon orange shorts.

Jocelyn Gadeaun is said to be 3-foot-5, 40 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was also last seen wearing a green top and neon orange shorts.

According to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, Gadeaun was married to but lived separately from her husband, who resides in the 16200 block of County Road 675 in Parrish.

On July 5, she entered the home through the back lanai around 4 a.m., according to a probable cause affidavit. The deputy who wrote the affidavit for the incident determined that she did not commit home invasion because since the Gadeauns are legally married, she was “within her rights to enter onto the property” and gather “community property.”

However, she does face an aggravated battery charge for what happened after she entered the home.

The husband told law enforcement that he was sleeping when he heard a noise and woke up to find his wife in the lanai with 52-year-old Ramin Fard.

According to the affidavit, Fard — who wore glasses, gloves and a helmet and wielded a 12-inch knife and an aluminum baseball bat — pulled the husband onto the lanai while choking him with the bat, asking about money and the keys to his white 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe as Jaima Gadeaun rummaged through her husband’s pockets.

Fard then told the husband to open the safe located in his closet. When the husband told him there was a gun inside, Fard hit the husband with the handle of the bat, according to the affidavit. Jaima Gadeaun stuffed the contents of the safe into a pillowcase, including his gun, phones, iPad and money, the husband told investigators.

Jaima Gadeaun knew about the video cameras placed around the home, so she detached the DVR that recorded the surveillance, according to the affidavit. She also gave the husband something to drink — which he thought to be a narcotic — and a bag of charcoal powder in case he got sick from it, the affidavit said.

According to the husband, Fard told him that if he didn’t stay put for a half hour, Fard would return to “f--k up his life” and if the husband called the police he would kill him.

Corderro McNeil, 30, who lives with his girlfriend at the husband’s home, was awakened by the husband and was told to call 911, since Jaima Gadeaun and Fard took the husband’s cell phones and left in the Tahoe, according to the affidavit. As McNeil’s girlfriend placed the 911 call around 4:55 a.m. and gave the phone to the husband to speak with the operator, a sergeant with the sheriff’s office was on his way to the home and conducted a traffic stop on a white Tahoe being chased by a white Lincoln on Rye Road.

The driver of the Tahoe, Jaima Gadeaun, was found with a gunshot wound to the leg and hand, and the front-seat passenger, Fard, had been shot in the head. McNeil was driving the Lincoln, and two 9mm guns were found in the road, according to the affidavit.

During three interviews with investigators, McNeil initially told detectives that the husband had fired the shots, but the 911 recording places the husband at his home, according to the affidavit. McNeil told detectives that he was present during the shooting, and the shooting happened while driving, according to the affidavit.

Fard, who survived his injuries, was arrested on Sept. 15 and has been charged with witness tampering and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. McNeil faces two counts of attempted murder.

According to the sheriff’s office, an active warrant for aggravated battery is out for Gadeaun.

In February, Jaima Gadeaun petitioned the court for an injunction for protection against domestic violence against her husband for her and her children. The petition was denied however.

This story was originally published September 21, 2017 at 12:24 PM with the headline "Mother of Amber Alert children also is wanted on aggravated battery charge."