Mom left her child along highway, later reported he was kidnapped, Louisiana cops say

A mom fed up with her child’s ongoing tantrum in the car abandoned the boy along a four-lane highway, then reported him kidnapped at 1 a.m., according to investigators in Louisiana.

It happened Tuesday, Nov. 5, in Eunice, and the child was found by passersby along U.S. 190, the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office reports. Eunice is about an 80-mile drive west from Baton Rouge.

“The mother ... reported that individuals in an older model truck had kidnapped her son as she was parked on the roadway attending to a deflated tire,” the sheriff’s office said in a Nov. 12 news release.

“Almost immediately upon arriving on scene, deputies learned that the unattended child was found by citizens on the parking lot of Heinen Medical Clinic with abrasion injuries to his knees. The child stated to officers that his mother ‘ran him over’ and left him on the side of the road.”

The boy was taken to a hospital for treatment of the abrasions and the “vast disparity in statements” prompted an investigation, the sheriff’s office said.

It was discovered there had been no kidnapping. Instead, the boy had been left along U.S. 190 “and allowed to run off in the night,” detectives said.

“What started as a disagreement between a mother and a child became a bizarre reaction to the child having a tantrum,” the sheriff’s office said.

“As the mother pulled the car over, the child, obviously not properly restrained, bailed out of the car before it came to a stop, resulting in the injuries to the child’s knees. The mother chose to leave the child out of the car, allowing him to run off in the dark, along major roadways.”

The 24-year-old woman told detectives she lost sight of the boy as he ran, and did not go looking for him, officials said.

“These grievous actions” led to her being arrested and charged with felony cruelty to a juvenile, misdemeanor child desertion and felony false swearing for the purpose of violating public health or safety, officials said.

The age of the child was not released.

This story was originally published November 13, 2024 at 6:59 AM with the headline "Mom left her child along highway, later reported he was kidnapped, Louisiana cops say."