Indiana mom arrested after child, 3, left at Walmart
MUNCIE – A mother was arrested Tuesday after she left her 3-year-old daughter behind at the south Muncie Walmart store, then didn't notice the girl's absence until after she made the 22-mile drive to her Hartford City home.
Krysti Renee Peckham, 26, was preliminarily charged with neglect of a dependent. She was released from the Delaware County jail after posting a $5,000 bond.
Muncie police were called to the store, at 1501 E. 29th St., about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday after the 3-year-old girl, wearing a blue "Frozen" dress, told Walmart employees she couldn't find her mother. The little girl also provided her mother's name, resulting in an announcement on the store's public address system.
A review of store surveillance video showed a couple — later identified as Peckham and her boyfriend, 34-year-old David J. Twibell — exiting their car in the Walmart parking lot at 2:26 p.m. and going inside the store, leaving the 3-year-old girl in the vehicle.
At 2:33 p.m., the girl "exits the vehicle by herself and enters the store," an officer who viewed the tapes wrote.
At 2:36 p.m., Peckham and Twibell left the store, got into their vehicle and drove away, an affidavit said.
An hour later, at 3:37 p.m., Peckham called Hartford City police from her home in the Valley View Apartments complex to report that her daughter, who she said had been sleeping in the back seat of her car, was missing.
Muncie police, about the same time, called Hartford City police, who reported they were already in contact with Peckham about her daughter's whereabouts. A Hartford City officer said Peckham maintained she "had left the Muncie Walmart with her child and lost her sometime after."
Hartford City police drove Peckham to Ind. 28 and Ind. 3 so she could discuss the incident with Muncie police. The mother — who appears to have no prior convictions — was then taken to City Hall to be interviewed, and later jailed.
Her daughter was placed under the supervision of Child Protective Services officials.
Twibell, convicted last year of maintaining a common nuisance and possession of paraphernalia, was not arrested in connection with Tuesday's events.
Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.