The Oak Park, Illinois woman convicted in Indonesia of hiding her murdered mother’s body in a suitcase was on a plane heading back to the Chicago area Tuesday night and was expected to land Wednesday morning, CBS Chicago reports .
Heather Mack was returning with her daughter and the foster mother who helped care for the child while Mack was in prison, according to Mack’s attorney, Brian Claypool.
Claypool added he is concerned Mack could be taken into federal custody once she lands and be detained for questioning.
“And of course, they’re all anxious about what to expect,” Claypool said. “But most important is we’re all concerned about Stella. We have a precious little 7-year-old girl that really is caught in the middle of this international scandal.”
Lawyers for Mack filed an emergency court order to make sure Stella wouldn’t be taken into child protective services and instead would be taken to someone in Chicago all parties are comfortable with.
Mack was released from an Indonesian prison last week after serving seven years of a 10-year sentence.
She was convicted of helping her boyfriend kill her wealthy socialite mother on vacation, hiding the body in a suitcase and leaving it in the trunk of a taxi.
Prosecutors argued Mack and her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, plotted to kill Sheila Von Wiese-Mack because she didn’t approve of their relationship.
Schaefer was sentenced to 18 years and got leniency from the judges, who said he showed remorse for his actions.