Authorities are investigating how a 4-year-old girl wandered away from her east Rowan child-care center Monday morning and walked about a block along busy U.S. 52.
Kent Ryan was traveling on U.S. 52 when he saw the girl walking on the side of the road shortly after 8 a.m., according to reports. Ryan picked up the girl and took her to nearby Sifford’s Phillips 66 gasoline station, just west of Rockwell.
Workers there alerted the Rowan County Sheriff’s Department, which is not releasing the child’s name.
Meanwhile, workers at the East Rowan Child Care Center noticed the girl missing and immediately called her mother at work, said Sheriff George Wilhelm.
“From the time she was missing to the time she was found, it was about 20 minutes,” Wilhelm said. He said the girl walked about a block along the two-lane highway.
A deputy talked with the girl at the gasoline station. She told him where her mother worked and that she was going home. The deputy called the mother’s work. The mother’s boss said the mother had gone to the child-care center, said Sheriff’s Lt. John Sifford.
The deputy called the center and reunited mother and child.
“Ihave been advised not to say anything,” said Kristie Basinger, manager of the center, at 125 Eastville Drive, off U.S. 52. Owner Mitzi Redmond could not be reached for comment this morning.
“We’re investigating possible neglect charges, but first we have to find out exactly what happened,”Wilhelm said.
Law enforcement contacted the Department of Social Services, which is investigating, said Tom Brewer, Children’s Services Program administrator. The investigations usually take 30 days, he said.
The N.C. Division of Facility Services, which licenses center, also will look at the case.
The local Children’s Services unit will question the day-care owner, center workers and parents to determine if there was any “maltreatment,” Brewer said.
The East Rowan center is licensed to care for up to 70 children, ranging from infant to 12 years old.
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