“Anything she tells us has to be investigated and corroborated”, an officer tells WBTW, noting Toney has not been charged but was arrested on an unrelated warrant and is being held at Horry County Detention Center.
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Bradley Nelson of Shem Creek Circle lives next door to the home where the mother was found and let rescue workers pass through his property during their search while he visited with his mother and 4-year-old son. Authorities say that the warrant for her arrest will be served Wednesday by the end of the day and she will have a bond hearing.
The baby named Grace is five months old, according to Lt. Denis.
Rescue crews searched for nearly eight hours for the child, but they say the water got too fast and too high late Tuesday, and they suspended their search.
A K-9 team tried to trace the woman’s path to determine if she really was in the area of the creek, which is about a quarter-mile from the home on Simms Drive.
According to Lt. Raul Denis, a homeowner reported finding a woman, later identified as Toney, on her back porch.
Police canvassed the neighborhood, following up on every tip and had every available detective on the scene, Denis said. According to Denis, it is turbulent and is even unfit for divers to conduct a safe search. Police k-9 agents were called to the scene to aid in the search for the child. Lt. Raul Denis of the Horry County Police Department says the search is shutting down at dark due to a safety precaution for the searchers. Her most recent arrest was for criminal domestic violence, on March 6. Lt. Denis confirmed on Wednesday that Toney’s 9-year-old daughter was released to her biological father.
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Toney was also jailed in November 2014 for numerous drug charges.
