Police are hunting for a missing 5-year-old girl whose mother allegedly admitted sending her away for drugs two years ago.
According to KOCO, Ashley Rowland, 39, admitted to the abduction of her daughter, who has been missing since 2022, leading to her arrest and charges of child abandonment this week.
Authorities were first made aware of the issue after the Oklahoma Department of Human Services was called to pick up the little girl in April 2023 but was unable to locate her.
When officials found the mother at her Moore home, she initially claimed the girl was with her father in Georgia.
However, investigators recently questioned the mother again when Child Protective Services discovered she lied about the missing girl, who has not been identified, according to police.
She then allegedly confessed to sending the then-two-year-old girl away to a man named “Carlos” while purchasing meth from him.
Rowland said she thought the man was on his way to Mexico and may have been the child’s father, according to police.
Police say they are aggressively looking for the youngster, who would now be five years old, but are unsure if she is still alive.
The Department of Human Services declined to comment on the probe but called the incident “heartbreaking and unimaginable.”
The Oklahoma County Detention Center is holding Rowland on a $3,000 bond.