Steve Jefferson/Eyewitness News
Marion County - Prosecutors charged a mother of two with neglect charges, saying she failed to take proper care of her children. Her three-year-old son wandered off twice in the last week, and the second time he walked onto the interstate.
Prosecutor Carl Brizzi hit Nancy Dyer, 30, with serious charges. The charges stem from drivers spotting her three-year-old son playing on Interstate 465. Damon Stewart-Dyer is with grandparents now. Their daughter's temporary home is the Marion County jail.
"A couple of the charges are related to the condition of the home and another child that was still in the apartment," said Helen Marchal, deputy prosecutor.
After state police got Damon to safety, they found his mother Nancy Dyer. "When the police presented her with her child missing she didn't seem all that concerned," Marchal said.
Dyer's seemingly uncaring attitude about his safety is a far cry from words on her Myspace page, where she writes about moving back to Indiana from Florida. She also described their new apartment, where troopers removed her two-year-old daughter after finding poor conditions.
The toddler "was eating what appeared to be spaghetti out of the trash bag, had a soiled diaper and obviously the house was not being kept very well," according to Marchal and officers at the scene.
After seeing the condition of the apartment, state troopers arrested Dyer and took her into custody. Prosecutors filed four D felony counts against Dyer for neglect of dependent.
On her Myspace page, Dyer writes about being excited about seeing her son again after two years. She posted family pictures on Myspace. Dyer also gives her father and family credit for help getting her life back on track.
That won't keep prosecutors from holding the 30-year-old mother accountable for what they describe as children living in poor conditions.
Nancy Dyer is at the Marion county jail on a $35,000 bond. Her first court appearance is Thursday morning. The D felony charges carry a penalty of up to four years each.
