Police Hunt for Baby Mom Allegedly Put in Creek

Sarah Lane Toney, 33, is being held on an unrelated warrant
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 4, 2015 1:00 PM CST
Police Hunt for Baby Mom Allegedly Put in Creek
This undated photo provided by the Horry County Police Department shows Sarah Lane Toney in Conway, SC.   (Horry County Police Department via AP)

Police are scouring a creek outside Myrtle Beach, SC, for a missing infant who disappeared under suspicious circumstances involving her mother. Details are sketchy, but police say they responded to a call about a suspicious person at a home near the creek in Socastee around 10:30am Tuesday, reports the Myrtle Beach Sun News. Police then found a soaking-wet 33-year-old Sarah Lane Toney, who told the homeowner she went into the creek with 5-month-old daughter Grace and "had thrown" the girl into the water, reports WMBF. Police seem to be toning down that initial account. Here's how the Sun News puts it: "Officers later determined that (Toney) ultimately lost her baby in the rushing creek after an incident at a residence nearby." Much about the situation remains murky, however.

"Anything she tells us has to be investigated and corroborated," an officer tells WBTW, noting Toney has not been charged but was arrested on an unrelated warrant and is being held at Horry County Detention Center. Records show she has previously been booked for criminal domestic violence, shoplifting, and drug-related charges; her 9-year-old daughter has been released into the custody of her father, reports WMBF. "For this to happen, it's unbelievable. You just don't believe it,” says Toney's neighbor. "She could have brought that baby here." Authorities resumed the search for Grace on Wednesday morning with divers. "We've got Jet Skis, canoes, and boats from here to the waterway trying to find the baby, but the currents are strong and the water is really muddied up from all the rain," an officer says. (More missing child stories.)

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