Detective: Accused Kidnappers Were On "Shopping Trip" 
 
 One of two suspects charged in the abduction of two Amish sisters told investigators they were on "a shopping trip and they wanted to make the girls their slaves." 
 
 
 
 Nicole Vaisey stared ahead as the preliminary hearing took place in Fowler Town Court Thursday. 
 
 
 
 Judge Paul Lamson ordered the case sent on to St. Lawrence County Court. 
 
 
 
 St. Lawrence County Sheriff's Detective Sergeant Brooks Bigwarfe testified that Vaisey told him that her boyfriend, Stephen Howells II, hatched a plan to kidnap the two girls, ages 7 and 12 from their family's produce stand near Heuvelton last Wednesday. 
 
 
 
 "She called it a shopping trip and they wanted to make the two girls their slaves," Bigwarfe said. 
 
 Bigwarfe described how Vaisey told him Howells used a Doberman - Golden Retriever puppy named "Kaleidoscope" inside the couple's car to lure the girls. The younger girl leaned into the car but the older girl hung back; Howells pushed the two girls into the car as they screamed. 
 
 Bigwarfe said Vaisey told him the sisters were "handcuffed together at the ankles and handcuffed to the bedpost because they were scared they were going to go out the window and flee the house." 
 
 
 
 Bigwarfe testified that Vaisey and Howells became scared after hearing news reports and Internet postings on the girls' abduction "and they decided to drop the kids off in an isolated area" in Bigelow, near Richville. Vaisey went first, scouting the area for police; then Howells brought the girls and dropped them off. 
 
 Vaisey was ordered held without bail. She appeared to be wearing a protective vest when she was brought in and taken from court. 
 
 Her lawyer, Brad Riendeau, argued bail should be set because she is not a flight risk and would be at a relative's home. 
 
 Riendeau contends Vaisey was a "slave" to Howells. 
 
 The 25 year old Vaisey and 39 year old Howells were initially charged with first degree kidnapping, but the charge Thursday was set at second degree kidnapping, which means the girls would not have to testify. 
 
 
 
 They allegedly kept the girls in their Hermon home overnight. 
 
 The girls were dropped off about 24 hours after they were kidnapped. 

 OSWEGATCHIE, N.Y. (AP) — The father of two Amish girls abducted last week said he feels sorry for the man and the woman authorities say kidnapped and sexually abused them before letting them go. 
 
 New York State Police crime scene investigators carry items from the bed of a pickup truck at the home of Stephen Howells II and Nicole F. Vaisey, in Hermon, N.Y., Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014. Vaisey and Howells... (Associated Press) 
 
 New York State Police crime scene investigators look through items Sunday, Aug. 14, 2014, at the home of suspected kidnappers Stephen Howells II and Nicole F. Vaisey, in Hermon, NY. The father of two... (Associated Press) 
 
 A New York State Police crime scene investigator carries evidence to a van Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014, at the home of suspected kidnappers Stephen Howells II and Nicole F. Vaisey, in Hermon, NY. The father... (Associated Press) 
 
 These images provided by the St. Lawrence County Sheriff's Office shows the booking photo of Stephen Howells II, left, and Nicole Vaisey, who was arraigned late Friday Aug. 15, 2014 on charges they intended... (Associated Press) 
 
 New York State Police crime scene investigators look through documents Sunday, Aug. 14, 2014, at the home of suspected kidnappers Stephen Howells II and Nicole F. Vaisey, in Hermon, NY. The father of... (Associated Press) 
 
 The parents of the 7- and 12-year-old sisters spoke to the Johnson Newspapers at their home in Oswegatchie on Sunday, two days after Stephen Howells Jr. and Nicole Vaisey were charged with kidnapping with the intent to physically or sexually abuse the girls. 
 
 "It's sad," the 44-year-old father said. "They must have ruined their whole life." 
 
 The Associated Press is not naming the family members because it generally does not identify people who may have been victims of sexual abuse. 
 
 The sisters were abducted Wednesday from a farm stand in front of the family's home near the Canadian border. They were set free about 24 hours later and turned up safe at the door of a house 15 miles from where they were taken. 
 
 Howells and Vaisey were arrested Friday. Authorities say the couple sexually abused the girls before letting them go. St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain has said additional charges are likely as early as this week. 
 
 On Monday, she said Howells had waived his right to a hearing before any grand jury presentation. She said a preliminary hearing for Vaisey was still scheduled for Thursday. 
 
 St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells said Monday that investigators have finished gathering evidence at the home Howells and Vaisey share. He said that it will take time to go through that information and that there had been no decision to file additional charges ahead of the hearing. 
 
 Lawyers for the suspects could not be reached by phone Monday, but Vaisey's lawyer, Bradford Riendeau, told The New York Times that she was in an abusive relationship with Howells. 
 
 The kidnappings touched off a massive search in the Amish family's remote farming community. Searchers scoured the community of about 4,000 people but were hampered by a lack of photos of the girls. 
 
 The Amish typically avoid modern technology, and the family had to work with an artist who spoke their language, a German dialect known as Pennsylvania Dutch, to produce a sketch of the older girl. 
 
 The parents, who have 14 children, did not express anger toward the suspects. 
 
 A 19-year-old sister told the newspaper group, which includes the Watertown Daily Times, that her younger siblings were not speaking much about their ordeal. The mother said that she is grateful to have her girls back home but that daily life has not returned to normal. 
 
 "We feel relieved we have them," the mother said. "It's still not like it was."
– The upstate New York couple accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing two Amish sisters planned to make the girls their slaves, police say. At a hearing yesterday, a police officer testified that Nicole Vaisey and Stephen Howells were on what they called a "shopping trip" when they seized the sisters, ages 7 and 12, from their family's farm stand, 7 News reports. The officer said Vaisey lured the girls to the couple's car with an offer to pet their puppy and Howells pushed them inside as they screamed. The couple left the girls "handcuffed together at the ankles and handcuffed to the bedpost because they were scared they were going to go out the window and flee the house" and freed them after 24 hours out of fear they would be caught, police say. Vaisey's defense attorney said Vaisey, 25, was in a "master-slave relationship" with Howells and isn't "as culpable as he is." Earlier this week, the girls' father said he felt sorry for the suspects, the AP reports. "It's sad," he said. "They must have ruined their whole life."