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MURRAY — A woman who allegedly went to get food for her child and then got lost was arrested over the weekend for investigation of child abandonment.
Raquesha Stark, 25, of Las Vegas, was arrested about 11 p.m. Saturday.
According to police, officers were called to a Holiday Inn Express, 5429 S. Commerce Drive, on a report of a 3-year-old girl who was in a room by herself and crying. The girl had been alone for more than 2 1⁄2 hours, according to a Salt Lake County Jail booking affidavit.
The girl had urinated in her pants and was found by a hotel employee in a bathtub, the affidavit states. Murray police detective Kenny Bass said hotel staff began to investigate if everything was OK after hearing the girl cry for so long.
When officers found Stark and questioned her, she claimed she had gone to McDonald’s to get food for her daughter but got lost going back to the hotel, said Bass.
There are four McDonald’s restaurants in the area, all between one to two miles away.
The child was taken into protective custody after her mother was taken to jail. Stark has no prior criminal history in Utah, according to court records.
