Missing 6-year-old found after walking 2 miles in rain, NC cops say. Mom is charged
A missing 6-year-old girl was found safe after she walked 2 miles in the rain, North Carolina deputies said.
Now the girl’s mother — who reportedly “admitted that she had been under the influence of alcohol” — faces a child abuse charge, according to the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were called to a report of a missing child at about 2 a.m. Sunday, May 28. First responders then started searching the Ellenboro area for the 6-year-old, who disappeared from her home after she was last seen about 9 p.m. the night before, the sheriff’s office wrote in a news release.
Then, at about 3 a.m., deputies reported finding the child at her grandfather’s home, roughly 2 miles from where she disappeared.
She had walked there in the rain, officials said.
“Rutherford County Department of Social Services was notified and responded to the scene to begin their investigation,” deputies wrote.
The sheriff’s office said the girl’s 31-year-old mom, whom McClatchy News is not naming to protect the identity of her child, lied during the investigation. She was arrested, “charged with misdemeanor child abuse” and is expected to appear in court June 29, online records show.
Ellenboro is roughly 60 miles west of Charlotte.
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