Police search for Texas mother who left her young children alone for 2 months
Police are searching for the mother of a 12-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy who were left alone for two months late last year in their house in Roman Forest, Texas. The mother, Raven Yates, is believed to be in the area of Mobile, Alabama, police in Texas said in a Facebook post.
An arrest warrant has been issued with two counts of abandonment without intent to return, Roman Forest police said.
On Nov. 14, 2022, the father of the 12-year-old girl called police when he became concerned the children were home alone, police said. The father, who lives in California, told police he had been ordering food to the Texas house for the children, when family members told him that Yates had been spotted alone in Mobile, Alabama.
The father became suspicious after the conversation that their mother had left them in Texas alone, and after calling Roman Forest police, flew to Texas from California, officials said. When police arrived at the house, they found the children alone inside without food or medical supplies.
"There was no food in the house. Everything was emptied," Roman Forest Police Chief Stephen Carlisle told WEAU-TV. "There were some dried beans and some spices, that's about it."
The house was left in deplorable conditions, and the 3-year-old's bedroom smelled heavily of urine, police said.
Investigators said the girl didn't call police because she was scared that her father would take her and leave her baby brother. The two children have different fathers, police said.
Both children were not registered in school, and police said they had been alone from Sept. 28 until Nov. 14 – almost two months in the rented Texas home.
"A 12-year-old can not take care of a three-year-old for a long period of time," Carlisle told WEAU 13. "That's dangerous."
The two children are said to be safe with family members in Mobile, Alabama, police said. Roman Forest police are working with Mobile police to find the missing mother, police said.