Couple arrested in connection with neglect after 2-year-old found in driveway

A couple in North Myrtle Beach was arrested in connection with neglect after their 2-year-old child was found roaming around in a driveway Saturday night.

Sarah Hendrix, 29, and Robert Hendrix, 45, both of Cornelius, N.C., are each charged with unlawful neglect of a child, according to jail records.

A woman walking her dog told police that about 11 p.m. Saturday she saw a 2-year-old girl standing in the driveway of a Riptide Circle home in North Myrtle Beach, authorities said.

The woman said she saw the girl’s parents sitting on a golf cart on the other side of a truck parked in the driveway drinking alcohol, North Myrtle Beach police said.

The woman said she told the parents their daughter was standing on the other said of a truck in the driveway and said Sarah Hendrix acted surprised, thanked her, and took the girl inside the house, authorities said.

The woman told police she went back by the home after continuing her walk and saw Robert Hendrix “passed out” in the gold cart, according to the report.

She said she couldn’t find Sarah Hendrix and decided to wait there for her. She said while she was waiting a neighbor came by and told her Sarah Hendrix was at her house and was “very intoxicated,” the report said.

When police arrived, they said they asked Sarah Hendrix to tell them about what had happened that night and said she told them she had been with her children the entire evening.

Police said Sarah Hendrix had trouble staying on topic with them and said her eyes were glassy and her speech was slurred.

Authorities said they woke up Robert Hendrix and said he was intoxicated.

Police said the South Carolina Department of Social Services was called about the arrest and situation.

Authorities said that after talking with DSS workers and getting approval from Sarah Hendrix, two children were left in the custody of another caretaker.

The couple has since been released from J. Reuben Long Detention Center, and their bail was not listed on the jail’s website.

Elizabeth Townsend: 843-626-0217, @TSN_etownsend

This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 10:33 AM with the headline "Couple arrested in connection with neglect after 2-year-old found in driveway."