Mindy McCready - P 2011
Brad Barket/Getty ImagesCountry music singer Mindy McCready’s son has been found and was recovered by officials in Arkansas on Friday. Just one day ago, McCready said she would not bring her 5-year-old son back from Tennessee to Florida, despite violating a custody arrangement and a judge’s order.
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On Friday, a Florida judge authorized an emergency pick-up order and authorities took the boy, Zander, into their care in Arkansas. Officials stated he is in good health, and that they plan to get the child back to his grandmother in Florida, who is his legal guardian and has been since 2007.
The troubled singer’s strange story began more than one month ago when she and her son were reported missing by the Department of Children and Families after McCready, who has visitation rights, took the boy away during a recent visit.
VIDEO: Family Members Urge Mindy McCready To Return 5-Year-Old Son
McCready resurfaced, but stated that she would not return her son because she was pregnant with twins and could not travel. A judge signed an order Thursday ordering authorities to take the boy into custody and return him. McCready said she and her son were in Tennessee. It’s not yet clear whether she could still face charges.
STORY: Mindy McCready Defies Judge’s Orders to Return 5-Year-Old Son
“I’m doing all this to protect Zander, not stay out of trouble,” McCready wrote in an e-mail to the Associated Press on Thursday. “I don’t think I should be in trouble for protecting my son in the first place.”
This is just the latest in a series of troubles for the singer, who first topped the charts in the mid-1990s. Since then, she has dealt with domestic abuse, drug and drunk-driving arrests and a suicide attempt. Three years ago, she was hospitalized after a cutting her wrists and taking several pills in what police deemed to be a suicide attempt.
