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MIAMI - A mother who had lost custody of her 5-month-old son kidnapped him during an unapproved visit at a child welfare agency office, officials said Thursday.
Police have checked several leads in the abduction of Laress Nelson, but without success, Miami police Lt. Bill Schwartz said Thursday. The boy's mother, Danielle Anderson, 20, is wanted on a warrant of interfering with the custody of her son and could face as much as five years in prison.
At a hearing Wednesday, a juvenile court judge scolded workers for the state Department of Children and Families for allowing and not properly supervising the visit Monday. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman also oversaw the case of Rilya Wilson, a foster child whose disappearance two years ago led to major changes at the agency.
Lederman said only a judge can allow visits, after deciding it is in the best interest of the child.
Anderson lost her parental rights after the agency declared her an unfit mother for abandoning her child with relatives.
Anderson was visiting Laress in the office of caseworker Isabel Betancourt when she fled with the boy, DCF Miami district Administrator Chuck Hood said.
When Betancourt had to leave for another appointment, she brought Anderson and the child to a supervisor's office. While there, Anderson asked to walk down the hall with the boy to visit a second caseworker, then left the building.
In 2002 it was discovered that Rilya Wilson, then 5, had been missing for over a year and that a DCF caseworker had lied in reporting she was making regular required visits to her foster home during that time.
Rilya's former caseworker, DeBorah Muskelly, will repay the state $2,736 for filing false time sheets under a deal Thursday. Muskelly was at her teaching job during hours covered on her time sheets, including times she was supposed to be checking Rilya.