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JOPLIN, Mo. (Gambling911.com) - A Missouri mom has been charged with abandoning her 4-year-old daughter at a truck stop late at night before heading off to a nearby casino.
Kayla Marie Christensen was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of first-degree child abandonment and two counts of first-degree child endangerment, court records show. The criminal complaint was filed in Newton County, just outside of Joplin.
The investigation began shortly before 3 a.m. Friday October 23 when officers with the Neosho Police Department responded to a report of a young child alone in the Love's travel stop's parking lot.
Police said Christensen intentionally left the 4-year-old at the truck stop and did not plan to return for her. When approached by officers, Christensen reportedly told them "I don't have a daughter."
As she allegedly drove away from her daughter, Christensen had her two other young children, both boys, in the car with her, police said. At the time, she allegedly did not have either child properly restrained in car seats, and both were in close proximity to "suspected drug paraphernalia," according to police, which led to the endangerment charges.
An affidavit identifies the young child as JV1.
"As [the victim's] mother and person legally responsible for her care, [Christensen] left four-year-old JV1 with the purpose of wholly abandoning her under circumstances likely to result in serious physical injury or death, as evidenced by knowingly driving away, failing to return, and later denying that she had a daughter," the affidavit states.
Christensen was located at a casino in Wyandotte, Kansas. Her other children were left inside the car while Chirstensen gambled inside.
It was not immediately clear when she was scheduled to appear in court or what had become of her three children.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
