A Texas mom has been accused of leaving her toddler home alone and covered in feces after she traveled 400 miles to go on a Hinge date.
Reese Louise Myers, 25, was charged with abandoning or endangering a child by the Killeen Police Department.
The incident alegedly happened in July, and the mother has now been extradited to Texas after being arrested by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office in California on a fugitive warrant on November 5, police told The Independent.
Four months prior, at roughly 9:50am on July 28, officers were sent to 600 W Hallmark Ave in Killeen, Texas regarding concerns over the welfare of a child.
A 16-month-old was spotted “hanging out near a broken window” after an aggressive dog tried to attack them, as per a witness who spoke to police.
When officials arrived at the scene, they saw the child dangling out from the window which they observed had been repaired with “plexiglass sheeting and cardboard” – they said it was not shattered as per the report.
Upon entering the apartment, the child was found scantily dressed in a t-shirt with “feces on the child’s skin and signs of possible diaper rash”, said Killeen PD.
A sweep of the apartment revealed that the child had been abandoned with two dogs inside the property.
When officers contacted Myers, the 16-month-old’s mother, she reportedly revealed she was in San Antonio after traveling there the day before on July 27 to meet up with a man she’d been chatting to on a dating site.
The hookup had been arranged on Hinge, according to an affidavit seen by KWTX.
Killeen PD confirmed that the mother had arranged to meet the man on a dating site but did not specify which app.
The mother told officials the child had been in the care of a babysitter organized through Facebook, officials added. Myers was told by police to return to Killeen, Texas.
Meanwhile, officers sought contact with the supposed babysitter who advised that she last spoke with the accused mother in December 2023 but hadn’t heard from her since.
Facebook messages seen by Killeen PD verified the lack of contact and the last exchange between the pair as December 2023, said officials.
The 16-month-year-old was medically assessed at Advent Health in Killeen for assessment before Child Protective Services took custody of him.
Special Victims Unit detectives presented the case to the Bell County District Attorney’s Office and a complaint was returned which led to Myers being charged for child neglect.
Myers was subsequently arrested and booked into Bells County Jail.
