Cops bust mom for drugs after son disappears

Crime • Mother charged with child endangerment.

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A 9-year-old boy reportedly walked more than 10 miles by himself last week, prompting a police search that concluded with his mother's arrest for having drugs within easy grasp of three kids, according to court documents.

Charges filed in 3rd District Court state that an officer initially went to the woman's home because she reported her son was missing. But when the officer went inside, she saw a meth pipe near a bed "easily within reach of any children in the room," the charges state. The officer also reportedly found an opened bottle of vodka and an array of drug paraphernalia near two other children, ages 11 and 2.

Police reportedly later found the 9-year-old boy at his grandmother's home more than 10 miles away. The mother was charged with two counts of felony child endangerment and one misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Jim Dalrymple II