LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The woman arrested in connection to the disappearance of a 5-year-old boy on Monday morning was formally charged in court today with Unlawful Imprisonment.
When 5-year-old Camden Johnson went missing from his Lansing home, it kicked off a frantic search. Police found him a few hours later.
Authorities say the person who found the boy is not the one who called the police. The owner of the home where Camden was found says he called police a few hours after his girlfriend found the boy.
That’s where police found Teresa Wolansky, the homeowner’s girlfriend and caretaker. The 48-year-old appeared in court on Tuesday. Police say she found the child on the road around 3:30 a.m. on Monday while she was out driving, and took him inside the home’s attic to warm up. But, she didn’t call the police.
When police arrived, they say they found Camden and Wolansky in the attic — with drug paraphernalia and a firearm in plain sight. They also say Wolansky admitted to making no attempts to contact police.
The suspect’s boyfriend tells us Wolansky suffers from mental health and substance abuse issues.
Camden’s mom, Dianna Monroe, says she can’t believe how it all went down.
“Why? Like out of all things, like you couldn’t just bring my baby home?” Monroe said. “Like why would you even think it’s okay to do that to somebody?”
On Monday morning at around 4 a.m., Monroe woke up to her son gone from his bed and her front door wide open. Around 7:30 a.m. Lansing police say he was found on the 700 block of Community Street.
Court documents show that after almost 4 hours, the homeowner who’s the suspect’s boyfriend made the call when he saw Camden’s picture on the news.
“Thank God for the man that realized that after a few hours,” Monroe said. “Like, she still hadn’t called or done anything and that he decided to make the phone call — cause what would’ve happened if he wouldn’t?”
The child’s mother says she’s upset that Wolansky didn’t call the police the moment it happened.
“Not thinking about how like I feel, his dad feels, his grandparents, his siblings, just like no consideration for none of that,” Monroe said.
Monroe says while this is all a bit much, she’s grateful to the suspect’s boyfriend and everyone who helped in the search.
The boyfriend says he thought Wolansky was going to call the police. But after so many hours passed, he just did it himself without telling her.
A judge set Wolansky’s bond at $5,000.
