A missing child case that's been open for more than 40 years just saw an unexpected development.

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After 42 years of silence, a missing child case from Louisville has suddenly come back to life with an arrest in Florida that raises more questions than it answers.

Debra Leigh Curry Newton was taken into custody in Marion County, Florida, on November 24, 2025, on a custodial interference warrant issued out of Kentucky in 2016.

According to Lt. Col. Mike Littlefield with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Debra Newton is being extradited back to Kentucky this week, where she will be booked into Metro Corrections.

CREDIT: Marion County Sheriff's Department

But the story behind that arrest reaches back to April 2, 1983, when three-year-old Michelle Newton disappeared from Louisville.

What we know about Michelle's disappearance

According to the Missing People in America network, Michelle was taken by her non-custodial mother, Debra Newton, when she was just three years old. She was living with her father at the time, who had full custody.