AUSTELL, Ga. — Law officials are searching for a couple that is on the run. The pair is accused of abusing their four-month-old baby.
Brandon Augustine and Mildred Chestnut are wanted on felony child abuse charges out of North Carolina.
The baby is at a hospital in Charlotte, N.C., but the couple’s car was found more than 200 miles in Cobb County. Augustine and Chestnut have been on the run for nearly a month and police think they could still be in the area.
Channel 2′s Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell was out in Austell, where the suspects’ car is being held for police in North Carolina.
Police said Augustine and Chestnut brought their baby to a hospital in Charlotte last month. The pair claimed the baby was injured in a minor car crash, but doctors told police that was not true.
Augustine’s mother said her son and his girlfriend developed flu-like symptoms and left the hospital. She stayed at the hospital with the baby.
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“By the next morning, all the bells and whistles were going off. Something was wrong inherently wrong, not like they were just sick,” Augustine’s mother said.
Not long after that, police realized the parents skipped town. They don’t appear to have any ties to Georgia. But Austell police are on high alert.
“We currently have a BOLO out on the subjects involved,” said Horton
The parents are facing felony child abuse charges. The baby will survive but has life-altering injuries.
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“It hits home this victim can’t speak for himself and so that’s our role,” Charlotte police said.
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