An Oklahoma woman was arrested last week for allegedly giving her toddler daughter to a man who was selling her methamphetamine.
The little girl hasn’t been seen since that transfer more than two years ago, KOTV reported.
Ashley Rowland, 39, has been charged with child abandonment.
Court documents say that the Oklahoma Department of Human Services attempted to take the child in April 2023, but she could not be found, according to KOCO. The agency contacted Rowland in Moore, and she told them that the girl was “with her father in Georgia.”
Investigators eventually learned that wasn’t true, and police interviewed Rowland, who admitted she given the child to “Carlos,” who sold her drugs, and that she hadn’t seen either of them since April 2022. She also said “Carlos” might be the girl’s father, but she wasn’t sure.
Rowland didn’t know his last name and could only provide a general description but said she thought he might be going to Mexico.
DHS said it could not comment on the case but said the situation was “heartbreaking and unimaginable.”
Moore police said they were searching for the girl, who would now be 5, but said they couldn’t release the child’s name or provide a photograph.
Rowland was being held on a $3,000 bond at a jail in Oklahoma County.
