The interstate custody standoff between Mindy McCready and Florida Children and Family Services was resolved Friday night when law enforcement authorities found the country singer and her son Zander huddled in a closet.
McCready, pregnant with twins, and her 5-year-old were discovered hiding out at the home of her boyfriend, in Heber Springs, Arkansas.
The boy’s legal guardian is Mindy’s estranged mother. A social services caseworker alerted police after discovering that Zander had been taken from Cape Coral, Florida on Tuesday, in violation of a court order that allowed her supervised visits but no custodial rights.
David Rahbany, the chief deputy U.S. Marshal in eastern Arkansas, said, “The child appeared to be in good condition when we found him. He was in the closet with his mother.”
McCready was not charged by Arkansas authorities but may not fare as well with a judge in Florida who threatened to issue an arrest warrant if she did not return the child to his home by 5:00 p.m. Friday.
Zander was placed in the custody of Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services until he can be reunited with his maternal grandmother, Gayle Ingle, in Florida.
Ingle told CNN, “We feel sorrow for Zander because he’s traumatized, and for Mindy. We just hope she does the right thing from here on out and that this is a wake-up call.”
Photos: WENN