Police: New London Child Wandered in Bitter Cold While Mom Smoked Pot

On Friday, Feb. 20, at approximately 3:38 a.m., New London Police received a 911 phone call from Rebecca Reyes, 23, who said her four-year-old daughter was missing.

Police searched the house and did not locate the child, so the search moved to the exterior of the home and the neighborhood, according to New London Police.

The temperature outside was 3 degrees at the time of the search, police said. The girl was located, hunched in a doorway and a neighbor’s house and was exposed to the elements.

“The child was wearing a long sleeve T-Shirt, pants and shoes,” police said. “The child was immediately transported by ambulance to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital and was being treated for hypothermia.”

Reyes provided police with a written statement, that she had placed the four-year-old child in bed at approximately 12:30 a.m., along with her other two children, ages five and two.

Reyes told officers that she went to check on the children at 3 a.m. and noticed that the four-year-old was not in bed.

Additional officers were called in along with members of the New London Police Dept. Investigative Division, New London Fire Department, Officers from the Waterford Police Dept. and Connecticut State Police to assist in the search of the missing child.

Reyes was further interviewed prior to locating the child and she told police she had left her residence at approximately 2 a.m. to go out with a friend, leaving the three children alone.

“She stated that she drove with a friend around New London while they smoked marijuana,” police said. “She stated that she returned to the residence at approximately 3 a.m. and noticed that the four-year-old was missing.”

Reyes was placed under arrest and charged with three counts of risk of injury to a minor, three counts of reckless endangerment in the first degree and providing a false statement. She is currently in police custody and will be arraigned at New London Superior Court.

The Department of Children and Families Abuse and Neglect Hot Line was notified and the other children were placed in the custody of relatives, police said.