LAS VEGAS (AP) - Police say a 20-year-old mother has been arrested and charged with felony child neglect after she locked her 1-year-old daughter in a car for more than 12 hours in the desert outside Las Vegas.
Police Officer Barbara Morgan said Diana Ruiz was arrested Friday after telling police her Ford Focus got stuck early Thursday in a remote area while she tried to drive a shortcut in the dark from Las Vegas to Sandy Valley.
Ruiz told investigators she accidentally locked her keys and her daughter in the car before seeking help about dawn at a home in the area. A man with an all-terrain vehicle helped, but they couldn't find her car again.
A police search and rescue helicopter found the car and the child after 3 p.m. Thursday.