Where was Raven Yates found? Texas mom arrested over child abandonment

Raven Yates, a 31-year-old Texas mom accused of abandoning her two young children for two months without access to food and medicine, was apprehended in Mobile, Alabama, on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. Police reported that she left her 12-year-old daughter and three-year-old son alone in their Texas home on September 28, 2022.

Authorities began looking for Raven Yates when one of her children’s father, who lived in California, reported her for child neglect on November 14, 2022, after discovering they had been on their own for nearly two months.

Yates, who was found living with a man in an apartment in Mobile, Alabama, reportedly threatened her daughter before leaving the house. She said that her brother, who has a different biological father, would be separated from her if other people were involved. The threat impelled the 12-year-old daughter to fend for herself and her brother for two months before her father discovered that the children were living without any adult supervision.

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Raven Yates' kids lived off of takeout food for months before authorities discovered their plight

As per multiple reports, Raven Yates' abandoned children lived off of takeout for two months before authorities learned that they had been left alone at their Texas home. At the time, Yates’s 12-year-old daughter reportedly asked her dad to place repeated food orders, falsely claiming that their mother was working late.

After continuous requests for takeout food, the daughter’s concerned father discovered that their mother had abandoned them and immediately notified the Roman Forest Police Department before flying in from California. In a press release, the Roman Forest Police department said:

“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.”

Shortly after the investigation, an arrest warrant was issued on December 8, 2022, for Yates on two counts of Abandon Endanger Child Without Intent to Return.

Three months after the arrest warrant was issued, Raven Yates was taken into custody by the US Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force, who were assisting the local police officers in finding Yates.

Stephen Carlisle, chief of police in Roman Forest, Texas, told station KTRK that during the arrest, Yates asked authorities permission to put on lipstick for the camera. Stephen Carlisle said:

“She was photographed in handcuffs with a full smile on her face and seemingly unbothered by the charges against her for allegedly putting her own children in danger.”

He added:

“I think [she] was playing for the camera. She wanted to have a smile. She wanted to look good. The arresting officer reportedly said she asked about putting lipstick on before the photo was taken.”

Authorities said that both children have since been placed in the care of their grandmother in Alabama.