Mother charged with neglect after children reported missing to Indy police

INDIANAPOLIS - An Indianapolis mother is being charged with felony neglect for reporting her young children missing after police say she left them unattended for over seven hours.




Jilda Cano, 29, was arrested on Wednesday by Indianapolis Metro police and preliminarily charged with neglect of a dependent. The charge stems from a brief IMPD investigation into two missing children that occurred earlier that day.

Missing children

IMPD announced around 2 p.m. Wednesday that officers were searching for two missing boys, ages 4 and 10. The children had reportedly gone missing around 6 a.m. in the 1700 block of N. Colorado Avenue on Indy's east side.




Police asked for the public's help in finding the children, sending out a missing persons report and sparking local news coverage. Just over an hour later, around 3:15 p.m., IMPD announced that the children had been found "safe" and "with family."




Police thanked the community for its support in helping find the boys, but provided no further information on the investigation. Then, the next morning, IMPD announced they had arrested the children's mother: Jilda Cano.

Children left alone, found 'with family'

An IMPD arrest report details how, after the children were found, detectives continued to look into the circumstances surrounding their disappearance. Police soon learned that Cano had allegedly abandoned her two children inside their trailer home for at least seven hours.




The mother had reportedly left the boys alone inside around 5 p.m. Tuesday, going to 16th and Tibbs on the city's near northwest side. When she returned in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the children were gone.




Cano reportedly called the children's father to ask where they were. Then, around noon, she called IMPD to report her children missing.




While investigating the children's disappearance, detectives learned both children were indeed with their father. It was later determined that the father had picked up the boys around 1 a.m. and taken them to Shelbyville. DCS later took custody of the children around 3:15 p.m.

Arrest, aftermath

Cano was arrested and preliminarily charged with two counts of Neglect of a Dependent - Abdanon/Confine. Both charges are level 6 felonies.




"Cano was arrested for leaving the children unattended for approximately hours or more," an IMPD arrest report reads. "A detailed probable cause report will be submitted by the missing persons detective."




As of 1 p.m. Thursday, official charges have not yet been filed against Cano. She is currently being held in Marion County Jail. Bond has not been set.





via: https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/mother-charged-with-neglect-after-children-reported-missing-to-indy-police/