A Texas woman has been apprehended after allegedly leaving her toddler alone to travel out of town to meet a man she had connected with on a dating app, according to law enforcement officials in the Lone Star State. Reese Louise Myers, 25, is facing charges of abandoning or endangering a child, as reported by the Killeen Police Department.
The incident, which took place in mid-summer, led to Myers’ arrest in the small city of Barstow, located in Southern California’s Inland Empire region. She was apprehended on a fugitive warrant earlier this month and has since been returned to Texas.
On the morning of July 28, police were summoned to an apartment in Killeen, a city approximately 70 miles north of Austin, to investigate the welfare of a child. A spokesperson for the Killeen Police Department stated that officers were informed of a child near a broken window, with an aggressive dog attempting to attack the child.
Upon arrival, officers found a child near a window that had been repaired with plexiglass and cardboard. Inside the apartment, the child was discovered alone, wearing only a T-shirt. The toddler also had feces on their skin and visible signs of diaper rash.
A search of the apartment revealed that the child was alone, except for the presence of two dogs. When officers contacted Myers, she claimed to be in San Antonio, having left the day before. San Antonio is approximately 160 miles south-southwest of Killeen.
The child was transported to a nearby hospital and subsequently placed in the custody of state Child Protective Services. Myers allegedly told police that she had traveled to San Antonio to meet a man she had met on the dating app Hinge. She claimed to have left her child with a babysitter she had found on Facebook.
However, when police contacted the alleged babysitter, she stated that she had last babysat for Myers in December of the previous year and had not had any contact with her since. The police also noted that the layout and setup of the house suggested that Myers had planned to leave her son alone.
Despite being instructed by officers to return to Killeen, Myers allegedly did not comply. She was arrested on November 5 by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office. Myers was released from custody in California on Tuesday and was arrested by the Killeen Police Department the same day.