Missing baby found in gym bag in car

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Florida police searching for a missing baby arrested the infant's mother after finding the baby in a gym bag locked in the back of a car, authorities said.

On Oct. 5 Leendra Glene Dasher, 21, called the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to report her 15-month-old daughter missing, WJXX-TV, Jacksonville, reported.

Dasher told police she put the child in the crib at 11 p.m. the night before, had been alone in her apartment with the child since 3 p.m. and no one else had access to the child.

Police quickly found the infant in an 18-inch by 10-inch gym bag in the back of the car.

Because Dasher's apartment was locked from the inside and nobody else could have had access, police arrested her, charging her with aggravated child abuse.

Dasher denied putting the child in the bag and in the car.

The infant is being cared for by relatives and is in good condition, John Harrell of the Department of Children and Families said.

Harrell called the case "very disturbing" and said the agency is investigating.

"We were alarmed any mother would treat her child in an inhumane way," Harrell said.