Allison Quets, left, after being conditionally released Jan. 4, 2007 in Ottawa, Canada. (AP)

RALEIGH -- An FBI agent says a disagreement over money nearly scuttled the adoption of 17-month-old twins before their biological mother allegedly fled with them to Canada.

The News and Observer of Raleigh reports Friday that Allison Quets initially sought to put only the male child up for adoption and talked to a couple in Apex about adopting him. FBI agent Michael Sutton writes that Quets opted to let Denise and Kevin Needham adopt both children after deciding she was incapable of raising any child.

When Quets told the Needhams they'd have to pay her expenses, the Needhams decided not to go ahead with the adoption. Quets found another couple, but decided not to go through with that adoption because she wouldn't be allowed to visit the children. Sutton says she went back to the Needhams because they would allow her to see the twins.

A custody agreement allowed Quets to take the children for a brief visit last month, but authorities say she never returned them.

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