Missing woman found forgotten in holding area of closed courthouse
A missing persons report Wednesday was soon resolved by a search of a Michigan courthouse.
Tara Mathis had been in the Barry County building hours earlier for a hearing in a child-support case and sentenced to 24 days when she told a probate judge she had no money to pay the past-due amount of $246. Put in a court holding cell to await transport to the jail, she was forgotten after a shift change for court deputies, according to MLive.com and WOOD.
Some six hours later, investigating a missing persons report made earlier in the day, a sheriff’s deputy and a Hastings police officer searched the closed courthouse and found Mathis still in the holding cell.
She was then booked and posted bond at 10:50 p.m.
An investigation of how Mathis was forgotten is ongoing.
The Associated Press also has a story.
Related coverage:
MLive.com: “17-year-old left overnight in Hudsonville court holding cell”
See also:
ABA Journal: “Privatized probation becomes a spiral of added fees and jail time”
