Parents arrested after 2-year-old found wandering along road

THOMASVILLE, N.C. – Police in North Carolina say they have arrested two parents after their 2-year-old child was found walking along a road alone.

Local media outlets report a passer-by stopped to help the child, but no one answered the door at the child’s Thomasville home, about 20 miles southeast of Winston-Salem.

When Thomasville police forced their way into the home Monday, they found the parents, Jeremy Nelson Billings and Melinda Wright Billings in bed and unaware their child had left.

Police say officers found marijuana, cocaine and other drug paraphernalia inside the home and charged the couple with possession of schedule II drugs, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and child abuse.

The parents, both 30, are jailed under $5,000 bond each. It’s not known if they have attorneys.

The child is in the custody of a family member.

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