Mother Of Wandering Boy Cited

A woman whose 2-year-old son was found wandering a motel parking lot has been cited by police for neglect.

Jane Marie Brown, 33, has been ordered to appear in court April 14 on the criminal misdemeanor charge. Brown could not be reached for comment Monday.

Employees of the Comfort Inn, 280 W. Appleway, found the boy in the parking lot at about 6 a.m. March 3. The boy reportedly told them his name and said his mother had driven off. When employees couldn’t find the boy’s mother, they called police. The child was placed in foster care.

The woman told police that she, the boy and her 13-year-old son went to the motel to visit some friends around 2 a.m. The 2-year-old was asleep in the car, Brown said, and she left the older boy there to watch him.

“No one else saw the 13-year-old,” said Coeur d’Alene Police Capt. Carl Bergh. He said the child was lightly dressed on the chilly morning.

Brown told police the teen was upset at having to watch the 2-year-old. Brown said when she returned to the car at 7 a.m., the 2-year-old was missing. She said she searched the area for her son from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. until she called police at 10:15 a.m. from the hotel manager’s office.