Wanted foster mom arrested in Pa.

Action comes after authorities follow up on Journal information

Dolly A. Butz and Bret Hayworth

A former South Sioux City woman wanted for manslaughter in the 2006 death of her 20-month-old foster child, Nathaniel Saunsoci-Mitchell, was arrested Monday in Pennsylvania, the Dakota County Sheriff's Office said.

Lt. Randall Walsh said Tisha Vega, 34, was arrested in Oaks, Pa., at the address the Journal provided to the sheriff's office last week after a public-records search.

"We followed up on it, and it worked out pretty good," Walsh said.

Members of Nathaniel's family were relieved and overcome with emotion at the news.

"It is about time," said Adriana Saunsoci, who identified herself as Nathaniel's grandmother. "It just gave us chills up our spines."

Saunsoci said she was surprised at how far Vega had fled and bemoaned the years it took to make an arrest.

"It is like no one cared that this poor innocent child lost his life," she said.

Nathaniel, the son of Omaha Tribe members Jackie Saunsoci and Nathan Mitchell, was placed in foster care with Vega, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and her husband, Carlos, in summer 2006. The baby was one of five American Indian foster children in the home, which also included five of the Vegas' own children.

While in the Vegas' care, Nathaniel suffered serious injuries -- a broken clavicle and dog bite on the face -- before he was hospitalized Sept. 22, 2006, with a fatal brain injury. He died two days later. The official cause of death was excess accumulation of water in the brain caused by nonaccidental trauma.

The case stalled until an arrest warrant was issued July 11 charging Tisha Vega with manslaughter, but by then, the Vegas had left the area. Authorities have said the couple went to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Oglala Sioux tribal headquarters, in western South Dakota and moved several times after that. They sold their house at 409 Southridge Drive in South Sioux City in December and listed their Pennsylvania address on the sale documents. Carlos Vega listed the same address for his drywall business in a Pennsylvania State Department filing earlier this month.

On Monday, the Upper Providence Police Department in Oaks arrested Tisha Vega at the address. She was being held in Montgomery (Pa.) County Jail.

Walsh said Vega was denied bond when she appeared before a judge Monday and did not waive extradition to Nebraska.

Nathaniel's great-grandmother Eleanor Baxter cried as she talked about the arrest, saying it ended months of wondering about how "our baby died in the most brutal of ways."

"It brings closure to something that should never have happened to such an innocent victim," Baxter said. "He had some health problems, but he would have been a little child running around here (today)."

She said the family will watch as the legal proceedings play out.

"It is a big, big relief," Saunsoci said of Vega's arrest. "The family has been seeking answers, to get help from our tribal council as well as the district attorney."

Tracking the news

What we knew: An arrest warrant was issued for Tisha Vega in July, nearly two years after foster child 20-month-old Nathaniel Saunsoci-Mitchell died of nonaccidental head trauma while in her care, but she had not been arrested. The Journal traced Vega and her husband to a Pennsylvania address through a public-records search.

What's new: Vega was arrested in Pennsylvania on Monday and was being held without bond.

What's next: Vega will have to return to Nebraska to face a charge of manslaughter.