Three months after an arrest warrant was issued for a Texas mother who allegedly left her two children home alone for months, Raven Yates was taken into custody multiple states away in Alabama.
According to apress release from the RFPD, Yates was apprehended on March 8 in Mobile, Ala., at an apartment complex where she “was staying with a male friend.”
Yates isaccused of abandoningher 12-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son on Sept. 28 in Texas, according to the RFPD. The 12-year-old’s father notified authorities on Nov. 14 that the children were left home alone since September. The father, who has not been named, flew in from California, where he had been working, to check on the children.
Raven Yates.Facebook
Yates is facing two counts of Abandon Endanger Child Without Intent to Return, according to the RFPD. It is not clear if she has entered pleas or retained an attorney to comment on her behalf.
In the time period after authorities issued the arrest warrant and before Yates was arrested, Yates was “actively making social media posts about the situation,” according to the release.
Carlisle, the RFPD Chief, tells PEOPLE that authorities didn’t initially release the story to the public because they wanted to try and track Yates down first, but when they were unable to, they informed the public, which caught a lot of people’s attention.
“She saw it, just like we figured she would, and then she started posting actively on social media because she’s that type of person that likes the attention,” Carlisle says.
He says authorities followed her social media posts hoping it would lead to information on her whereabouts, but ultimately a tip was what led to her arrest.
“We started getting tips — of course a lot of the tips were dead ends — but some of them actually got us closer to her,” Carlisle continued. “That final tip is what told [the US Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force] where she was at.”
During the three months between the arrest warrant and her apprehension, numerous posts were made on Yates' Instagram and Facebook accounts. On Feb. 11, she posted a selfie videoon her Instagramwith the caption, “When you minding your own businesses and know the truth.”
Then, later that day, she posted a video of a fridge and cabinet with food and clips of a child eating cereal near a computer and playing in a pool. Additional videos posted on that day also featured a young girl.
Raven Yates.Roman Forest Police Department
Carlisle tells PEOPLE the photos and videos used in these posts were all from before Yates allegedly abandoned her children.
“She was not with them,” Carlisle says. “Those were older pictures. We know where the kids were. The kids were with family members.”
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Carlisle says some of Yates' social media posts were direct responses to authorities speaking out about the case.
“But she never did deny that she left the kids alone, but she started posting pictures of her with the kids and, honestly, I think she was enjoying the attention,” he continued.
As of March 14, Yates waslisted as being in custodyon the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office website. She is currently awaiting extradition back to Montgomery County, Texas, but it is unclear how long the extradition process will take.
source: people.com
