Kids found near I-90
POST FALLS - A Washington woman sought after her two young sons were found alone along Interstate 90 near Post Falls was arrested Tuesday night in the Spokane area after an anonymous tip.
The telephone tip led Spokane County sheriff's deputies to a house where they found Shannon Marie Germanton, 27, Deputy Craig Chamberlin said. She was arrested on a local negligent driving warrant and booked into the Spokane County Jail.
A search for Germanton had been ongoing, after a construction supervisor found her sons, ages 3 and 6, sitting by the I-90 interchange project at milepost 1 around 9 a.m.
"They were just sitting in the grass, in between the Centennial Trail and the freeway off-ramp," said Jay Barrett with Knife River Corporation, who said he was among other workers who stumbled across the boys.
The boys, who didn't have jackets, weren't moving at first, Barrett said.
They responded once they were approached, he said, adding that he covered the younger boy and put him in a truck.
"They were cold and wet, and they wanted their mom," said Barrett, working on the new bridge construction. "I said, 'We'll find your mom, but right now you've got to get warm.'"
They were unharmed, he added, which was lucky for their position.
"They were 60 feet off the highway. It's not a good spot to be," Barrett said.
According to the sheriff's department, the boys told deputies that their mother had run out of gas and gone for help.
The boys said she had walked them to the spot by the highway when it was dark and raining.
A Jacklin Seed employee told investigators he gave Germanton a ride to the Exxon Station at Pleasant View Road and Riverbend Drive between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
But Post Falls Police Chief Scot Haug said the individual didn't see Germanton enter the gas station when she was dropped off there.
"She started walking southbound on Pleasant View," Haug said.
Idaho authorities plan to pursue an arrest warrant for child abandonment and child neglect, said Sgt. Matt Street of the Kootenai County sheriff's office. Kootenai County sheriff's detectives planned to take their case to a local magistrate in Coeur d'Alene on Wednesday and seek an arrest warrant that would allow Spokane County to hold Germanton pending extradition to Idaho.
As law enforcement officers in northern Idaho and eastern Washington searched for the woman, Post Falls police called her cell phone and spoke to her several times, Street said. She was evasive about her whereabouts and kept hanging up, Street said.
"There was no real concern about where the children were," he said.
Initially officers didn't know whether they were dealing with possible illness, foul play or abandonment, Street said. Exactly what happened "is yet to be determined until our detectives can get an interview with her," he said.
On Tuesday evening, Haug said a dozen investigators and patrol officers were still searching for Germanton.
The boys had been placed in foster care by Tuesday afternoon with the Department of Health and Welfare Child Protective Services.
Germanton's purse was found inside a Knife River Corporation truck by the construction site, Haug said.
The police had also responded to a call at Walmart on Monday night that involved Germanton and her sons, Haug said.
She had been "acting sort of bizarre," he said, but the situation didn't warrant taking the boys.
The name Germanton has 13 bookings listed from 2003 to 2009, according to Kootenai County sheriff's spokesman Ben Wolfinger. Offenses include petty theft, possession of controlled substance and paraphernalia, and driving with a suspended license.
No car was found near the boys and no one was at home at Germanton's last known address, Wolfinger said.
"We don't know if she has a boyfriend," Wolfinger said. Germanton is divorced, he added.
Staff writer Alecia Warren contributed to this story.