Texas parents charged for leaving 6-month-old baby alone on beach, 'We lost track of time'

A Texas couple has been arrested and charged with child neglect after they left their six-month-old baby all alone inside a tent on the beach as she was napping. The rest of the family went on a long walk at Florida's Miramar Beach.

Sara Sommers Wilks, 37, and her husband, Brian Wilks, 40 were arrested after police responded to reports of an abandoned baby. The couple told the police that they lost track of time while they were strolling with their three older children. The mother is the regional president of a healthcare company. “It’s right there at that hour time frame, 50 minutes to an hour, way longer than what would be reasonable,” Major Dustin Cosson with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office told ABC 13.A passerby saw the abandoned baby and tended to her, then reported the incident to the police. The parents had no idea what was going on and they were also inaccessible as they left their cellphones behind with the infant. “We’re thankful for the quick-thinking beachgoer who raised the alarm and for those who stepped in to care for the child with the same kindness and concern they would show their own,” Sheriff Michael Adkinson said.

The authorities said the infant was not in any aparent distress and her vitals were all normal. She and her three elder siblings were remanded into the Florida Department of Children and Families’ custody until other family members could pick them up, according to the sheriff’s office.“That’s all fine and dandy, but you don’t just leave a baby at a house and then leave and go off to the store. The baby could roll over and suffocate itself, or the wind could blow a towel over its face. There’s no telling what could have happened,” Major Cosson told ABC 13.The parents were taken into custody shortly after and charged with child neglect without great bodily harm — a third-degree felony under Florida statutes. They were released on a $1,000 bond on Saturday.