What to Know
- Angela Benedict of New Providence is accused of leaving her 17-month-old daughter alone in the woods.
- The girl was found naked with only socks on in the water near a retention pond with minor cuts and bug bites.
- Benedict, who police said was under the influence of drugs at the time, was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
A Pennsylvania mom is accused of leaving her young daughter alone in the woods for hours.
Pennsylvania State Police were first notified Monday of a missing 17-month-old girl in Providence Township, Lancaster County. They later found the girl alone and naked, wearing only socks in shallow water next to a retention pond near the 900 block of Lancaster Pike shortly after midnight.
Investigators determined the girl’s mother, 34-year-old Angela Benedict of New Providence, had left the girl alone in the woods for 3 ½ hours during the night. Benedict was under the influence of drugs at the time, investigators said. Police did not reveal the specific drugs she allegedly took.
Neighbors told NBC affiliate WGAL they had seen Benedict take the girl into the woods and then return hours later without the child. They also said Benedict was incoherent.
“So I had my kids go down to the pond to find her and she was up in the tree,” Patricia Murphy told WGAL. “So I told her she had like two minutes before I call the cops to tell everybody where the baby was and she didn’t, so I called the cops.”
The girl, who suffered minor cuts and scrapes as well as bug bites, was taken to the hospital for a medical evaluation.
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Benedict was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of children. She was taken to Lancaster County Prison and is awaiting a preliminary arraignment.
