Three accused of trying to swap cockatoo for two children

Three adults are accused of agreeing to swap a $1,500 cockatoo and $175 in cash for two children whom police suspect may have been swapped from family to family over the past few years. The 4-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy now are in state custody.

Brandy Lynn Romero, 27, and Paul J. Romero, 46, both of the 5200 block of Eunice-Basile Highway in Eunice area of Evangeline Parish, each is free on a $95,000 bond after being charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping. Donna Louise Greenwell, 51, of Pitkin, is being held on $100,000 bond in the Evangeline Parish Jail on a charge of kidnapping.

The Romeros agreed to swap the bird for the children, Eunice Police Chief Gary Fontenot said, adding that "We are only going with what the kids have told us. It¹s a mess."


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The investigation was spurred by an anonymous tip from a woman who claimed the Romeros had two children with them and she was suspicious of their story, police said. Detectives contacted Evangeline Parish authorities and arranged surveillance of the couple, eventually arresting them on Saturday at McDonald¹s in Eunice.

Greenwell, who was arrested in Ville Platte, is an long-haul trucker who delivers cattle to several states and has an extensive criminal history, police said. "She is a convicted paedophile. This case could have wider implications," Fontenot said.

Brandy Romero told police she was contacted by Greenwell about the bird the family was selling. Greenwell told the childless couple she couldn't raise that much money but offered to swap children she said were hers, according to police. While it appears the children had been living with Greenwell for about a year, police say she is not their biological mother. The children's biological mother apparently is a fugitive in the Lake Charles area, authorities said. Investigators have been unable to locate their father.