Mother claims she tossed 5-month-old baby in creek; search underway
SOCASTEE, S.C. -- Divers and other rescue workers have resumed the search for a 5-month-old girl after a woman said she put her baby in a creek near Socastee, South Carolina.
Horry County Police Lt. Raul Denis said in an email Wednesday morning that officials had delayed the search because of storms in the area near the Intracoastal Waterway. The search eventually resumed late Wednesday morning.
Denis said they were patrolling the same area they had searched the day before and the creek has dropped one foot from its previous level of 6 to 7 feet, reports CBS affiliate WMBF.
The creek is usually only two-feet deep.
Officers were called Tuesday by a resident who said a woman was on her porch, saying she had put her child in the water.
Investigators think the woman had been in the water with the child, Grace, a short distance away and came out of the creek without the girl.
Tuesday morning, the mother, 33-year-old Sarah Lane Toney of Myrtle Beach came out of the water, knocked on the door of a home and told the person living there that she had thrown the infant girl into the creek according to Denis.
When police arrived, they took Toney into custody.
Denis also confirmed that Toney's 9-year-old daughter was released to her biological father, WMBF reported.
Toney has been arrested on unrelated charges due to an outstanding warrant, and in a statement Wednesday, Denis said that Toney is being charged with unlawful conduct toward a child.