Wellington mother arrested after her baby was found alone crying in locked car

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - — A Wellington mom was arrested on Thursday in Royal Palm Beach on child neglect charges for allegedly leaving her infant son locked in her car while she went shopping at a department store.

This morning, a judge ordered that 21-year-old Christie Marie Snow be held in lieu of $3,000 bond.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies and fire-rescue crews were dispatched to the Wal-Mart SuperCenter on Belvedere Road sometime after 8 p.m. to reports of a baby boy crying alone in a locked car. When they arrived, fire rescue crews unlocked the car.

"The mother, later identified as Christie Snow, was unable to be located," the deputy noted in the affidavit.

Snow eventually returned, and initially told deputies that she had left her 9-month-old son with a man, but later said that she lied because she was scared, the affidavit stated.

She told deputies that she left her son in the car because he was sleeping at 8:31 p.m. and that she returned by 9:06 p.m.

Two witnesses said they heard the baby boy crying. One of them said she heard him crying for about 45 minutes, but thought that the baby was with someone.

The affidavit does not state if the Florida Department of Children and Families was notified of the incident.