According to the Roman Forest police chief, Raven Yates, 31, left her 12-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son alone at their home in the 2000 block of Maplewood Ridge Drive. Yates reportedly left in late September, and it was not until nearly two months later that the children were discovered alone.
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"No food in the house; everything was empty," Chief Stephen Carlisle said. "There were some dry beans and spices. That was it."
While the refrigerator and cabinets were nearly empty, the 3-year-old's bedroom smelled like heavy urine, according to investigators.
"A 12-year-old cannot take care of a 3-year-old for a long period of time, especially over a month and a half," Carlisle said. "It's dangerous and irresponsible of a parent. Without medical supplies or ways to get food, that's very dangerous."
The children have different fathers and, according to investigators, Yates threatened her 12-year-old daughter that the girl's father would take her and leave her 3-year-old brother alone if she told anyone.
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Fearful of what may happen, the 12-year-old would get food by telling her father that Yates was working, and he would order food sent to the house. It was not until family members spotted Yates in Mobile, Alabama, where she is from, that they contacted the child's father because the kids were not with her.
According to the chief, the father of the 12-year-old, a music producer in California, flew to Texas and called the police once he found out. The chief also added that the family moved to Texas about a year ago, and that the children were never enrolled in school.
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Yates has been charged with two counts of abandoning or endangering a child without intent to return. The Roman Forest Police Department is working with Mobile police in Alabama to find and arrest Yates. A warrant for her arrest was filed in December. She has been actively posting on her social media accounts with thousands of followers as investigators work to make an arrest.
Yates also has a 14-year-old daughter who was reported as a runaway before the mother was accused of leaving her younger children. According to police, all three children have been reunited and are safe with a family member.
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