A woman is accused of enlisting a cousin and burning down a home in a gambit to kidnap her 3-year-old daughter, police say.
Lynette McGuire, 32, and her 33-year-old cousin Denise Coyle, both of Bensalem, are charged with aggravated arson, attempted kidnapping and burglary after they set fire to a home in Washington Township Thursday night.
Authorities say that McGuire and Coyle set fire to the home in an attempt to kidnap McGuire's 3-year-old daughter, who was living there with grandparents and three siblings.
Police say that the pair set the blaze in the home's garage. Flames spread throughout the home and caused serious damage, but McGuire's daughter, her grandparents and siblings all escaped unharmed.
McGuire and Coyle were taken into custody about a mile away.
"If not for the timely response of the Washington Township Police Department and the Washington Township Fire Department, this incident may have ended quite differently,” said Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean F. Dalton.
McGuire and Coyle are both being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. Additional charges are pending and it's not clear if they have attorneys.
