Mother of missing baby faces unlawful conduct charges as search expanded Wednesday

While rescue workers continued to search for a 5-month-old baby in Socastee creek Wednesday, Horry County Police charged the mother with unlawful conduct towards a child.

Sarah Lane Toney, 33, was already behind bars at J. Reuben Long Detention Center for unrelated charges. Horry County Police spokesman Lt. Raul Denis said the new warrant would be served late Wednesday. Denis declined to give details about what led to the charge.

The search for “Baby Grace” expanded Wednesday as more agencies and organizations got involved to find the infant, who police said Toney lost Tuesday in the rushing waters of a Socastee creek.

“We have K-9 teams from Darlington County and Hartsville here helping and of course our fire rescue people are here with their divers. We have the area very well-saturated with everyone trying to help find this baby,” Denis said.

The search, which began Tuesday, resumed about 9 a.m. Wednesday after a slight delay as police met to strategize while they waited for the rain to let up, Denis said.

Searchers scoured the water and nearby woods. Divers felt the bottom of the murky creek, which was roughly 6 to 8 feet deep. Coastal Carolina University staff also joined the search Wednesday, using sonar equipment to scan the waterway bottoms.

Steady rain on Tuesday made conditions along the heavily wooded and widening search area more difficult for workers, but the weather was milder Wednesday.

“Yesterday it was flooded here and the current was moving rapidly. Today the conditions are a bit better,” said Sgt. J.B. Kinsey, a diver with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division agents also joined the search. Horry County police asked volunteers with the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons to help, and the group canvassed the wooded area at Shem Creek Circle along the creek where Toney emerged Tuesday.

Shem Creek Circle resident Bradley Nelson did what he could to help, allowing searchers to go through his property to get to the creek behind it. He also gave them permission to use his downstairs bathroom if needed.

Nelson, who has a 4-year-old son, said as a father he was driven to help do whatever he could to aid in the effort.

“I can’t imagine losing a child. A child’s life is a precious thing,” he said. “No one deserves a terrible fate, especially a small child.”

Nelson also offered up two kayaks and a small boat to officials if they needed them.

“I do have some tools that are readily available, and I certainly would love to make them available… Any and everything I can do, I want to do to help,” he said.

Shem Creek Circle resident Bill Stuhl said he was surprised when he learned about the incident.

“It was a quiet neighborhood until this happened,” he said.

He said the mood in the community has been shock and sadness.

“I think it’s a tragedy and I feel sorry, especially for the baby,” Stuhl said.

David Barickman, 36, a neighbor of Toney, said he has lived in the area for about four years and has seen the missing baby with Toney in passing from time to time, but did not know her.

“It’s terrible… It’s a shock,” he said.

The search initially started about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday when officers were called after a resident of Shem Creek Circle in Socastee found Toney, drenched and sitting on her porch and saying she put her baby in the creek. Officers later determined that Toney ultimately lost her baby in the rushing creek after an incident at a residence nearby. Officials have declined to give details about the circumstances that occurred at the residence on Simms Drive.

Toney has an extensive history with local law enforcement officers and has been arrested for numerous offenses involving drugs, theft and domestic violence, according to records with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

Toney was arrested last year for possessing less than a gram of cocaine/methamphetamine, shoplifting, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, and attempting to furnish a prisoner with contraband, records show.

Those records also show Toney was arrested in March for criminal domestic violence, and has previous arrests for domestic violence by the Horry County Police Department in 2010 and by the Myrtle Beach Police Department in 2008.

She was arrested last year by the Horry County Police Department and charged with petty larceny.

Toney was arrested by the South Carolina Highway Patrol in 2011 for driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident. She was arrested again by the highway patrol in July 2012 for driving under suspension, and again in September when she was charged with a hit and run accident and damage to property, according to the records.

Toney has also passed through the Conway Municipal Court on charges of resisting arrest, public intoxication, shoplifting, trespassing and receiving stolen property, according to arrest records.

Staff reporter Audrey Hudson contributed to this report.

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 9:53 AM with the headline "Mother of missing baby faces unlawful conduct charges as search expanded Wednesday."