Police arrested a Lincoln County mother Tuesday afternoon after her 3-year-old son drowned in the Little Coal River on Monday.
Nicole Hall, 28, of Alum Creek, is charged with child neglect resulting in death, according to a Lincoln County Magistrate Court official.
State Police Trooper C.A. Lewis of the Hamlin detachment said police were looking for Hall at her son's father's home in Shrewsbury Tuesday afternoon.
The boy's father had custody of the child, but had dropped him off at the Hall's house in Alum Creek on Sunday.
"The father was just kind of being a nice guy," Lewis said. "The boy wanted to see his mother."
Hall told police she and the boy had been playing outside on the porch, then she went inside to use the restroom at about 2 p.m.
He was gone when she returned. She told police that for about 20 minutes, she assumed the boy was playing hide and seek.
"After that she began to panic, but she never called 911," Lewis said.
The boy's father called multiple times before Hall finally answered at about 5 p.m., Lewis said.
After the boy's father left Shrewsbury and arrived at her home, he and off-duty Charleston police officer Jamie Wilson, who lives near Hall, called police at about 6:20 p.m. Sunday.
The boy's body was found tangled in a log dangling in the river, about 50 yards from the house, less than half an hour later.
Lewis, who was one of four state troopers who responded, said both parents were visibly distraught. He said he doesn't know how long Hall was actually in the house, because no one else was at the home. He said it wouldn't have been difficult for the boy to reach the river.
However, he also said that Child Protective Services had received several allegations of child neglect in the past about Hall. He said no claims were ever substantiated.
CPR was administered before the boy was transported to Thomas Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.