Feb 25, 2016 2 min read

A McDonald couple face charges of endangering the welfare of children after their 3-year-old daughter wandered away from their home Monday and was found a half-mile away.

Teresa May Cook, 28, and Mark Crowell, 39, both of 1003 Spring St., were charged after their daughter was found without a coat, shoes or socks in the 500 block of Fannie Street Extension in North Fayette Township.

McDonald police were called about 5:35 p.m. to the Spring residence for a report of a missing girl. Her parents gave police a description and said she was last seen about 30 minutes earlier. Cook told police they were eating dinner when they realized the girl was missing.

Police said the front door of the home was open.

McDonald firefighters were called to assist in the search. North Fayette police had been called to a home at 525 Fannie after the residents spotted a girl walking in the middle of the road with no jacket. McDonald police also went to the home and found the girl who had been reported missing. She was dirty and her bare feet were muddy. Police said the temperatures were in the low to mid-40s.

Neighbors of Cook and Crowell told police they saw the girl outside the residence, unsupervised, about 5 p.m. They also told the officers the girl had been left unattended outside on Sunday.

The two also were charged by the Burgettstown School District in separate cases for violating the compulsory school attendance law involving their 9-year-old daughter. They will have summary trials next month before District Judge Gary Havelka.

The two are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on the endangerment charges on April 7 before District Judge Traci McDonald.