By: Duane Marsteller
Source: bradentonherald.com
Photo credit: Tiffany Tompkins
A North Carolina woman left her 96-year-old aunt at a local Salvation Army shelter, then left for a Walt Disney World vacation with no plans to return for her, officials said Wednesday.
Now the niece, who disputes officials’ version of events, could face criminal charges in what officials are calling one of the worst local cases of “granny dumping” that they’ve ever seen.
“To take someone hundreds of miles and just dump them, that’s at the far end of the spectrum,” said M. Ashley Butler of Aging Safely Inc., Ruth Smith’s emergency temporary guardian.
Butler said shelter employees testified during an emergency court hearing Wednesday that Edwards left several bags containing Smith’s medications, urine-soaked clothes and rotten food. Employees also said Edwards, who was not at the hearing, told them she had no plans to return for her aunt.
Woman, 96, left at local shelter
