Missing Mom, 2 Children Found Safe After ‘Frantic’ Phone Call Made From Walmart

Victor Westerkamp
By Victor Westerkamp
November 14, 2019US News
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Missing Mom, 2 Children Found Safe After ‘Frantic’ Phone Call Made From Walmart
Alicia Brumbaugh, 31, and her two children were found alive on Tuesday morning after a "frantic" phone call from a Walmart parking lot in Indiana, Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania State Police)

Pennsylvania State Police found a missing woman and her two children safe after she called police near a Walmart.

Alicia Brumbaugh, 31, made a “frantic phone call” to police around 11:20 p.m. Monday night near a Walmart in the town of Indiana, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The call ended before police could get more details, spurring a manhunt for the missing family of three.

Brumbaugh and her two children, 1-year-old Maverick Lee and 2-year-old Aleah Nicole Rose, were believed to have been with Brumbaugh’s father-in-law, Edgar Lee Decker. The family was last seen around 4 a.m. on Monday in Imler, about 60 miles from where the phone call was made, state police said in a news release.

Police determined, after reviewing surveillance footage, that the family was inside a black SUV at a Walmart parking lot at Southtowne Plaza when the phone call was made. The vehicle then turned right onto Oakland Avenue/SR 286 West, reported KDKA.

Authorities asked the public for assistance in locating the family and gave a description of the vehicle: a black 2005 Chevrolet Avalanche with the license plate ZGZ-6781.

Around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, a driver called police after spotting the SUV traveling east along State Route 422 in Armstrong Township, Indiana County. Authorities pulled the car over on Oakland Avenue in White Township, not far from where the initial call was made, and found Brumbaugh, Decker, and the two children inside, reported Fox.

Brumbaugh, and the children were “ok,” police said, and Decker, who had had recently left rehab and had an active felony warrant, was arrested without incident.

During a consented search of the vehicle, authorities found suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia inside Brumbaugh’s purse, leading to her arrest, state police said in an update.

Brumbaugh was charged with two counts of Endangering the Welfare of Children, one count of Possession of a Controlled Substance, and one count of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She is being held at the Indiana County Jail on a $10,000 bond. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 26.

Furthermore, troopers said they don’t have evidence that Brumbaugh was being held by Decker against her will.

An investigation is ongoing and additional charges may be filed, according to the statement.

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