The grandmother of a Kentucky toddler who had custody of the little girl when she vanished last week reportedly admitted to use meth on the night before the child disappeared.
WLKY reports that Bullitt County Sheriff Donnie Tinnell, who has been vocal about his thoughts that the 2-year-old Charlee Campbell didn’t wander away on her own, stated that the girl’s grandmother, Beth Campbell, admitted to drug use while appearing in court of Wednesday morning for a custody hearing. Shortly after authorities found Charlee last week, they placed her in state custody.
Campbell reported her granddaughter missing last Thursday. She claimed she went to the little girl’s room at around 9:40 a.m. and Charlee was missing. The incident occurred of the 600 block of Winding Hollow Road in Lebanon Junction.
Around 36 hours later, after authorities, rescue teams, and a K-9 unit searched the surrounding area and found no trace of Charlee, the toddler showed up at a neighbor’s home. The family dog, Penny, who disappeared with Charlee, showed up at the Winding Hollow Road home at around the same time.
Tinnell, as he previously mentioned, will carry out warrants to search the cellphone of family members, in an attempt to find out for sure if someone was involved in her disappearance.
“I’m trying to keep an open mind through this whole thing, to understand that we don’t know what happened. We want answers like the community wants answers,” Tinnell told WLKY. “We should get into those phones and find out if there’s any information in those phones that would lead to something of foul play.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, the toddler was found around 5 p.m. on Friday after she walked onto the porch of a home off of Roy Layne Road. According to authorities, Charlee reportedly walked up around 600 yards of a hill to reach the residence, and the homeowner recognized her as the missing girl and called the police.
Charlee had her shirt on when found, but her diaper and pants were removed. Authorities searched “extensively” according to Tinnell, for the little girl’s missing clothing but they came up empty-handed. Other details that occurred during the search and its aftermath include:
- When Charlee arrived on the back deck of a neighbor’s home, the neighbor brought her inside and gave her water, but she immediately threw up.
- On Monday morning, CPS took custody of Charlee after her release from the hospital, following an initial health examination.
- Charlee was dehydrated and had ticks on her.
- Charlee is generally non-verbal but can repeat things said to her. She’s unable to articulate where she was when she disappeared.
- Search warrants on the cellphones of Charlee’s family members are currently underway.
- Within an hour of the FBI’s search of the grandparent’s home, the little girl showed up at the neighbor’s residence and the dog returned home.
- Authorities are considering filing charges of negligence against the toddler’s grandmother, who was supposed to be taking care of the little girl when she vanished.
- Charles Quick, the husband of Charlee’s mother, Natalie Quick, was arrested for outstanding warrants out of Florida on Thursday.
- Charles Quick was cleared as a person of interest, but Tinnell said he was out in the woods on the day Charlee disappeared.
- Police plan to forensically test Charles Quick’s cellphone.
Beth Campbell is currently facing a misdemeanor charge for endangering the welfare of a child.
Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
[Feature Photo: Charlee Campbell/Handout]
