The daughter of a Missouri mother was allegedly abandoned at a truck stop in the middle of the night. When the police went to a casino to speak with the parent, she told them the 4-year-old wasn't hers.
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The Mother Also Left Her Two Boys in Her Car
The New York Post reports that Kayla Marie Christensen allegedly left her daughter at the Love's Travel Stop near Neosho, Missouri, around 3 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 23.
According to an affidavit, Christensen drove off with only her two sons. She reportedly left them in her car and went into a casino in Wyandotte. Police tracked the mother down after responding to a report of a girl alone in the parking lot of the Love's.
Officers then tracked Christensen down. When they found her and asked about her daughter, she said she had only two boys.
Police searched Christensen's car. They allegedly found drug paraphernalia, including syringes, inside. They added that both of her sons were not properly secured in their car seats.
The Parent Was Arrested
Christensen was then arrested and charged with first-degree child abandonment. Court records show that she also received two counts of first-degree child endangerment.
In addition, police charged the parent with three counts of failing to restrain a child properly. Christensen was also charged with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.
This report comes a month after a separate Missouri case in which a foster mother allegedly traded a teenage girl for a monkey.
While Judge Thomas Frawley condemned the actions of 70-year-old Brenda Deutsch, he suspended her sentence for child endangerment. He placed her on three years of probation and revoked her foster care license, then criticized the state of Missouri for allowing Deutsch to keep it.
Deutsch will remain free if she complies with the terms of the revised sentence. She was arrested in April after authorities looked into allegations that a foster child under her care was sent to Texas to stay in another home. Investigators then learned that the girl had allegedly been traded for an exotic animal.
