A woman in her 39th year has been detained on a number of felony charges for reportedly abducting her two biological children after severely abusing her own mother, who is also the children’s legal guardian, until the elder woman passed out.
The police arrested Sarah Myers on Thursday and charged her with three felonies: one count of child neglect of a child under 8 years old, two counts of interfering with a child’s custody, and one count of theft of a vehicle. It was found that Rico Delk, 1, and Elijah Delk, 3, were both safe and sound.
The Metro Nashville Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) put out an Endangered Child Alert for Rico and Elijah on Wednesday night.
The alert said that both children were “believed to be with their non-custodial mother, Sarah Myers.” It was thought that Myers was traveling with the kids in a cream-colored 1997 Lincoln Town Car with license plates from Tennessee.
A probable cause affidavit that Nashville NBC affiliate WSMV got gave more information about the accusations against Myers.
The report says that Myers took the Lincoln Town Car on Wednesday to go to her mother Holly Featherman’s house. Featherman is said to legally be in charge of both of her grandchildren.
Police wrote that Myers “attacked her until she was rendered unconscious” at some point after getting to her mother’s house. Reports say that Myers gathered her real children and left the area with them.
A man called the police in Hermitage, Tennessee, a few hours later, at about 11:30 p.m., to ask for a welfare check at a townhouse in the area where Myers was staying because he was suicidal.
Police were told that the man knew Myers and that she had recently talked about committing suicide and even said that she had “overdosed on prescription medication.”
Police and firefighters who were called to the scene said they found the older child alone in the Lincoln that was parked outside the townhouse.
While police continued to look for Myers and Elijah, Rico was taken to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital for an evaluation by the Nashville Fire Department.
WSMV said that police found Myers and Elijah in a house on Old Fountain Place and arrested her right away.
Police say that Myers got into the house through a back door and never left to check on her older child in the Lincoln after she was inside.
Records show that Myeris is being held on a $20,000 bond and is due to go to court on Dec. 12 before Judge Jim Todd.
