Mom abandoned her two children for months, police said

Published 9:56 pm Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Police in Alabama arrested a woman Wednesday after they say she left her two children home alone for more than a month, sometimes without food and water.

In a joint effort between the Roman Forest (Texas) Police and US Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force to locate Raven Yates resulted in her being located and apprehended at an apartment complex in Mobile, Alabama.

Yates was staying with a male friend at that apartment complex in Mobile.

Yates was taken into custody without incident and is currently being held at the Mobile Police Department awaiting extradition back to Montgomery County.

Raven Yates is the mother who allegedly left her 12 year-old daughter and 3 year-old son at her home alone from September 8, 2022 until discovered by the 12 year-old’s father on November 14, 2022.

The concerned father reported to the Roman Forest Police that his 12 year-old daughter has been home alone with her 3-year-old brother since September 28, 2022, much of the time without access to food or medical supplies.

The father immediately flew in from California where he had been working at the time. The father had been informed that his child’s mother had been seen in Mobile Alabama without her children and realized they were home alone because he had been asked by his daughter to send food regularly.

Following an investigation by the Roman Forest Police, an arrest warrant was issued on December 8, 2022 for the mother, Raven Yates, for 2 counts of Abandon Endanger Child Without Intent to Return.

Since the Roman Forest Police released the details of this story to the media, Yates has been actively making social media posts about the situation. This led to many tips and leads.

US Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force followed a tip to an apartment complex in Mobile Alabama the apartment manager confirmed Yates was staying with a male in the complex. At 4:30pm the male friend cooperated with entry into the apartment where Yates was apprehended.