Officials Defy Ruling To Return Hoax Suspect

INDIANAPOLIS -- Boone County officials say they will not abiding by a Kansas judge's order to return a woman accused of playing a hoax on a missing Indiana person's family.

DONNA WALKER History Of Shannon Sherrill Case Slideshow: Searching For Shannon Indiana Missing Childrens' Web Site

Walker (pictured, left), 35, is accused of trying to convince the parents of a long-missing Boone County, Ind., female that she was their daughter. Walker has been jailed in Indiana since being taken there last week to face charges including identity deception.

A judge on Tuesday ordered Indiana to return Donna Walker to Kansas, saying she hadn't exhausted her appeal rights when she was extradited to face the charges.

In a news release Wednesday, Boone County Prosecutor Todd Meyer said he had no plans to return Walker.

"A Kansas court has no jurisdiction over an Indiana matter," Meyer said. "Donna Walker is a criminal defendant in a pending criminal case here in the state of Indiana, and I have no intention of returning her to the state of Kansas based on this most recent ruling out of the Kansas court."

Shawnee County District Judge Nancy Parrish admitted Tuesday that Kansas extradition laws were unclear, and didn't know how the state might get Walker back.

A Kansas prosecutor assigned to the case, Rich Eckert, suggested Indiana may be free to ignore Parrish's order.

Meyer said Walker and her lawyer did not exercise the legal options available to her when a Kansas judge denied their petition to fight extradition.

"When we learned that Walker and her attorney had not filed any formal pleadings with the court, which would have prohibited us from picking her up, we took off," Meyer said.

Walker is being held with bail set at $50,000, but a bond-reduction hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 10.