Grandmother Says Rescued Girl Won't Return to Mother

(CNN) -- A 4-year-old, whose mother took her cross-country with her sex-offender boyfriend, won't be handed back to her mother, according to the girl's maternal grandmother.

"There's no way that I would do that," Mary Watson said Wednesday on HLN's "Nancy Grace."

Watson said she plans to follow the decisions of social services agencies overseeing the well-publicized case of young Haylee Donathan and will not let Haylee see her mother, Candace Watson.

"If (she) is not allowed to see her, she is not allowed to see her," Mary Watson said. "That's the way it is going to be."

Candace Watson, 24, and her boyfriend, Robbie Potter, 27, were arrested Tuesday in a raid at The Morning Star Ranch, a Christian communal farm in a rural part of San Diego County, California.

Authorities also found Haylee at the ranch and said they plan to return the girl to her grandmother.

Haylee had been missing for 27 days and the search to find her had been highlighted by national television current-affairs shows.

The grandmother, who received temporary court-ordered custody of the girl so an Amber Alert could be issued during the search, said she had not seen Haylee since she was found because she was being examined in California. Shortly after she was found, the girl was said to be in good condition.

"I want to tell her how I love her and we all love her and want her to come home soon," Mary Watson said.

Acting on a tip from former retreat visitors who saw a billboard of Haylee in the Las Vegas area, law enforcement stormed the usually placid ranch, whose members work the land, do household chores and share Christian beliefs and teachings.

The search for Haylee was sparked by authorities' concern for her safety.

Investigators say the three left Mansfield, Ohio, by car on May 28. The same day, Candace Watson and others allegedly had helped Potter escape from a halfway house, according to officials.

After she was arrested, Watson said she "was in love with him and knew she would help him any way she could," Pete Elliott, the U.S. marshal for the northern district of Ohio, told "Nancy Grace."

Haylee Donathan Is ALIVE! YES!

(CNN) -- A tip from an isolated communal farm in rural San Diego County, California, may have led police to solve the well-publicized case of a missing 4-year-old Ohio girl.

Authorities stormed the ranch in a dramatic Tuesday afternoon raid to find young Haylee Donathan; her mother, Candace Watson; and Robbie Potter, Watson's boyfriend and a registered sex offender who had escaped from a half-way house.

Haylee had been missing for 27 days, and the search for her had been spotlighted on national television current affairs shows.

In a news conference Tuesday, police did not say what lead them to the remote Morning Star Ranch to rescue Haylee.

Despite exhaustive media coverage and hundreds of law enforcement agencies on the case, Haylee and the two adults had spent more than a week on the ranch without raising suspicions, said Kevin Carlin, a member of the ranch in the neighborhood of Valley Center.

Ranch members became suspicious when a former guest saw billboards urging help in finding Haylee and the two adults while traveling in Las Vegas, Nevada, Carlin said during a phone interview.

The ranch contacted police, who coordinated the secret rescue mission pulled off Tuesday.

"We cooperated fully," he said.

In an Ohio news conference, Peter Elliott, United States marshal for the northern district of Ohio, said of the many tips that came in, one in particular helped break the case. But he did not elaborate.

Before ranch members became suspicious, Haylee, her mother and Potter seemed like a happy family, Carlin said.

"We thought they were a couple," Carlin said. "We thought she was their child. We treated them as guests. They helped us and we provided for their basic needs," said Carlin, explaining that no one at the ranch knew Watson and Potter were wanted.

They told their hosts they were married, he said.

"They seemed nice enough," Carlin said, adding that it is not in the group members' nature to be suspicious of others, so they take people at their word and do not grill new members about their lives or background.

"We pray to be delivered from evil every day, and we obviously were. We're just so thankful."

Watson and Potter kept a low profile, doing their chores in the kitchen and on the farm, Carlin said. He described Haylee as a sweet little girl who played well with the other children on the ranch, a 66-acre plot in rural San Diego County.

According to Carlin, the 6-year-old community is part of a worldwide messianic Christian organization known as The Twelve Tribes.

Just before the raid, Carlin said the other families were moved to safety but went about their own business, even going for a swim.

"It was pretty tense because there were armed men on our property and helicopters overhead," he said. '"The couple didn't resist arrest, and it went smoothly."

A few families live on the ranch in several separate homes, according to Carlin, who declined to give an exact number of people.

Haylee, Watson and Potter slept in the same room, but Carlin said he was not sure if they slept in the same bed.

Last week, in an interview on HLN's Nancy Grace, Watson's roommate said she saw all three in one bed the morning they disappeared, a revelation that further alarmed authorities.

Roommate says on Nancy Grace she saw Haylee Donathan in Bed with Mother and Sex Offender (Video)

Wednesday evening Candace Watson’s roommate appeared on Nancy Grace and discussed the Haylee Donathan case.

Samantha Covert said she saw Haylee, 4, in bed with Haylee's mother Watson, 24, and convicted sex offender Robbi Potter, 27, on the morning of May 28, the day the three went missing.

Covert said when Watson left the house she had a basket full of clothes, blankets, and pillows.

Haylee’s grandmother, Mary Watson also appeared and said in the last phone conversation she had with her daughter, she sounded scared.

Haylee Donathan Wal-Mart Surveillance Video

NEW INFORMATION--Police have discovered a surveillance tape they say may offer clues in the case of missing 4-year-old Haylee Donathan.

Haylee disappeared while on a camping trip with her mother Candace Watson and her boyfriend Robbi Potter, a convicted sex offender.

Video from a Walmart in Marion apparently shows Haylee's mother aays after the little girl was last seen by family members.

The video goes on to show a man believed to be Potter in a truck outside with a little girl.

"It's just so hard for me to believe that she would leave her in the truck. I just don't understand it," said Mary Watson, Haylee's grandmother.

The hope is that the video paired with a $10,000 reward will bring Haylee home.

Video: Haylee Donathan's Uncle Says Escape of Sex Offender Began as Trick

Examiner- Cyle Watson, the uncle of missing 3-year-old Haylee Donathan, was arrested Thursday for helping convicted sex offender, Robbi Potter escape from a halfway house.

Also arrested in connection with the escape was Haylee’s father, James Donathan and his girlfriend, Nicole Kirkpatrick.

Potter is a convicted sex offender who is believed to be with Haylee and her mother Candace Watson.

Cyle Watson, 21, said he and Potter met at Belmont Correctional Institution, while Potter was serving three years for two counts of sexual battery on two children, ages 7 and 9.

Watson was sentenced to three years in prison for the rape of a 12-year-old girl he claimed consented to the act and lied about her age. He also received five years probation for attempted rape.

On Feb. 28, Watson was released from prison to the Volunteers of America halfway house.

He told Mark Caudill of the Telegraph-Forum, “I was out a month, and I was at a strip club.” He saw Potter at the halfway house and said Potter owed him money. “I don’t even like the guy,” Watson said.

He claims he was trying to get Potting in trouble by telling him he had arranged a ride for him at the North Main Street BP station. Watson denies helping Potter escape.

The day after Potter left the facility, Watson said he talked to Haylee’s father, who said Potter came to see him and thought Watson had sent him over. Donathan’s apartment building is located next to the halfway house.

Donathan called Haylee’s mother to give Potter a ride.
(See the interview of Cyle Watson)

CRAWFORD COUNTY (WTOL) - A nationwide search is underway for little Haylee Donathan.

The 4-year-old girl was last seen more than a week ago in Crestline, and investigators say she may be in danger.

They believe she's with her mother and Robbi Potter. Potter spent 3 years in prison for sexually assaulting two children.

One of the victims' mothers has a warning for Haylee's mom.

"I would tell her to get away. Run, as fast as you can. I mean, even if she doesn't do it for herself, she's gotta do it for her child," the mother said.

Haylee's father, his girlfriend and the girl's uncle are charged with helping Potter escape.

Investigators were checking possible leads near Phoenix, Ariz., after receiving tips that Haylee may be there. The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force is handling the search.

"I'm a father myself and I can just imagine the fear in this girl, so we're not going to stop, we're going to keep going until we get her back safely," said Assistant Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Drew Deserto.

Deserto said they are willing to speak with Potter and Haylee's mother to arrange a 'safe surrender.'

Talks are underway to get the case featured on America's Most Wanted.