Arkansas mom demands answers after preschooler wanders from daycare

BENTON, Ark. — A parent’s worst nightmare turned into a reality on Monday for one Benton mother after her four-year-old daughter wandered off from her daycare.

“I gave [her] a kiss, gave [her] a hug,” described Kaylee Norwood of the morning the incident happened with her child.

Then Norwood sent her daughter inside to the Child Development Center at First United Methodist Church in Benton. What started as a normal Monday quickly took a dramatic turn with just the ring of a phone.

“I got a call at 12:55 stating that my daughter was found outside, and I immediately got in my car, rushed down to the school. My heart dropped into my stomach at the time,” Norwood explained.

Norwood’s daughter, Mila, was found in front of the Smith Family Funeral home about a block down the street. 

However, the question about how she got there in the first place still remains.

“I asked her, I said, what happened? And she said, Well, she went to the bathroom, and at some point she got out of the bathroom and just wandered down the hall and out the door,” Norwood said. 

According to the incident report from the Benton Police Department, two women were driving down North Market Street and saw the child wandering about. 

The women then called the police, and the child was returned to the daycare.

“When I got to the school, there was no officer there, so I immediately took my children, both my girls, and we left,” Norwood said.

However, that was the last day both of Norwood’s daughters were enrolled at the daycare.

Norwood continues to be confused and still doesn’t know how long her daughter was outside.

“And I trusted these adults to be watching my children, you know, and I was severely let down,” she explained.

After she got her daughter back, Norwood said her daughter kept apologizing to her for going outside.

“She felt like it was her fault, which, of course, you know, it’s not her fault. She’s only four. She was supposed to be watched by adults, and they let her down,” she said.

Mila is now safe with her family, but it’s what could have happened that keeps replaying in Norwood’s mind. 

“All I could think was, is my daughter okay. You know, who did she approach from the street? You know, she could have been hit by a car, she could have been kidnapped, she could have been lost in the woods or something,” she said.

In response to the incident, the Child Development Center at First United Methodist Church released the following statement: 

“The Childhood Development Center at Benton First United Methodist Church is deeply saddened by the incident that happened yesterday when a child exited the building. We are thankful to the good Samaritan who brought the child to safety. We are continuing to work with the appropriate authorities, all of the parents and grandparents with children in our care, and staff to ensure that all precautions have been taken to keep our children safe in every way possible.”