Upon appearing, for a scheduled preliminary hearing regarding charges brought against them by Los Angeles County, James Stewart and Sharon Palmer were ambushed by officials from Ventura County who engaged in "public theater". They slapped them in handcuffs, marched them out of court, and then proceeded to lose them in Ventura County jail where they disappeared for five days. These two prisoners were "lost in the system" and could not be located by anyone, anywhere. County officials had managed to hide them away and not even law enforcement officials could find them.