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A Utah mother was arrested on outstanding warrants after she allegedly made a false report that her infant child had been abducted by a relative from a McDonald's in Midvale on Tuesday.
The 3-month-old girl was found with a female relative in West Valley City about 50 minutes after the child's mother contacted police Tuesday morning, Unified Police Department Lt. Justin Hoyal said. Police initially arrested the relative because child's mother said the 48-year-old woman had taken her vehicle and the baby without permission while the mother was inside a McDonald's restaurant near Interstate 15 and 7800 South.
But after a review of surveillance video and several interviews, investigators determined the mother's story was false, Hoyal said in a statement.
Investigators now believe the child had been left in the relative's care for an extended period of time, and that the relative was on her way home after running several errands when she was stopped by police. She and the child had not been at the McDonald's as the mother reported, Hoyal said.
Police had originally placed the relative in custody, but have since released her.
The baby's mother, whose name was not released, was arrested on several outstanding warrants and booked into the Salt Lake County jail. Investigators also plan to ask prosecutors to consider criminal charges against the mother for making a false police report, Hoyal said.
The child has been placed in the care of a family member, he said.