Police search for mother accused of abandoning two young children for months

ROMAN FOREST, Texas — Investigators are searching for a Texas woman accused of leaving her two young children home alone for months.

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In a news release, the Roman Forest Police Department announced charges were filed against Raven Yates after she allegedly left her daughter, 12, and son, 3, alone without access to food or medical supplies. Police said they were contacted on Nov. 14, 2022, by a concerned father who said his 12-year-old daughter had been alone with her 3-year-old brother since Sept. 28.

“No food in the house; everything was empty,” Ramon Forest Police Chief Stephen Carlisle told KTRK. “There were some dry beans and spices. That was it.”

The children’s father, who was working in California, immediately flew to Texas, police said. Investigators said the children’s father realized that his children were alone after he was told that their mother was seen in Mobile, Alabama, without her children. Police said his daughter also asked him to send food regularly. The children were not registered in school.

“I can’t hardly comprehend something like that. I really can’t,” Lonnie Castleman, who lives in the neighborhood, told KPRC. “I raised two daughters and got four grandkids. Family means everything to us. It’s heartbreaking.”

“A 12-year-old cannot take care of a 3-year-old for a long period of time, especially over a month and a half,” Carlisle told KTRK. “It’s dangerous and irresponsible of a parent. Without medical supplies or ways to get food, that’s very dangerous.”

Police told KPRC that Yates is also the mother of a 14-year-old child who ran away days before Yates left the home. All three children are now in the custody of family members.

The Roman Forest Police Department is working with the Mobile Police Department to find Yates, who was charged with two counts of abandoning or endangering a child without intent to return, KTRK reported. Yates has been actively posting on social media.