A Florida mother arrested at Orlando International Airport on Friday refused to cut her Las Vegas trip short even after deputies called to say her 9-year-old son had been hospitalized with a head wound, authorities said.
Irene Miller, 50, a Russian-born photographer, was taken into custody on child neglect charges after allegedly leaving four children — ages 9, 11, 12, and 14 — unsupervised for five nights at her Kissimmee condo, according to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
The boy’s older sister called 911 last Wednesday to report that a dumbbell had fallen on him while the siblings were trying to build a blanket fort, using the weight to secure it, an unidentified family friend said.
“There was a lot of blood,” the friend added, describing the scene as “chaotic” for Mark Miller, the children’s father, who has no contact with his estranged wife.
Officers reached Irene Miller in Las Vegas to deliver the news about her son’s injury. She responded that she was there until Friday and “couldn’t come home,” Capt. Kim Montes of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said.
Authorities then contacted Mark Miller, 53, who was unaware his wife had abandoned the children, Montes said. The kids were described as “ecstatic” to be placed in their father’s care.
Mark Miller has faced his own legal troubles. He was arrested on Aug. 21 after allegedly striking his wife outside their children’s school, according to a charging affidavit. He was charged with criminal battery, released on a $10,000 bond, and a judge issued a no-contact order on Sept. 4, court records showed.
The couple had been married for 15 years and were cohabiting in the Kissimmee condo until August, when Miller accused her husband of abuse — an allegation he denies, Montes said. Miller filed a dissolution of marriage petition in Osceola County on Sept. 17 and remains in the family condo, court records showed.
Despite the no-contact order and battery charge, the Department of Children and Family Services determined Mark was safe to take his children, Montes said.
The Ukrainian-born father launched a GoFundMe seeking $5,000 after becoming the children’s “unexpected sole caregiver,” revealing that all four kids are now living with him in a single-room motel.
“I’m doing everything I can to keep my children safe and together,” he wrote on the fundraising page, adding that he doesn’t believe his estranged wife is “a bad person,” but rather, “made choices she didn’t fully think through.”