A Missouri woman has been arrested and charged with child abandonment and endangerment after allegedly leaving her 4-year-old daughter at a truck stop and later denying she was her parent.
Kayla Marie Christensen is accused of abandoning the child at a Love’s Travel Stop near Neosho around 3 a.m. on Friday, according to an affidavit cited by lawandcrime.com. She reportedly drove away from the scene with her two young sons.
Investigators later found Christensen at a casino in Wyandotte, where she had allegedly left her sons unattended in her vehicle. When confronted by police, Christensen claimed she did not have a daughter and that her only children were the two boys.
Authorities also reported finding drug paraphernalia, including syringes, in Christensen's car. Additionally, both of her sons were reportedly not properly secured in their car seats.
Christensen faces charges including first-degree child abandonment and two counts of first-degree child endangerment. She is also charged with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and three counts of failing to properly restrain a child.
