A Peachtree City man was arrested by police Wednesday after his 2-year-old son was found unattended on a cart path nearly a quarter-mile away from their home by a woman driving in her golf cart, police said.

The incident led police and a child protection caseworker to the family’s home, which had animal feces and trash throughout, police said.

Edwin Smith, 32, of Morgan’s Turn was arrested and charged with reckless conduct. The 2-year-old and a 4-year-old child also living at the residence were taken into protective custody by DFCS, police said.

The child had been missing for roughly 40 minutes and was wearing only a diaper, covered in mud, when he was spotted by a citizen when he was spotted by a citizen shortly before 11:30 a.m. said Police Chief James Murray. The child also had numerous scratches, likely from where he walked through the woods to the point where a concerned citizen found him on the cart path, Murray said.

The woman then took him in her golf cart to a nearby fire station after which police were notified.

Smith had told police that the child wandered away while he was doing laundry, Murray said.

“There was no evidence he had been doing any laundry,” Murray said.

During the entire time the child was missing, Smith did not call police to report the incident, Murray added.

Murray said the child was found on a cart path near the intersection of Ga. Highway 54 and Peachtree Parkway, which are both very busy roads. Fortunately the Good Samaritan found him before he got that far, Murray added.

“The lady did a great job getting him to a fire station,” Murray said, noting the importance of having fire stations nearby for just such occasions.

Ironically when the child disappeared, the mother was in Fayetteville seeking DFCS assistance, police said. When officers responded to the fire station, they had the Good Samaritan drive back to the area where she found the child so they could attempt to identify the child’s parents, Murray said.

In the end it was a neighbor in the area who recognized the child and led police to the house, Murray said.

The mother, identified by police as Cynthia Wood, was not arrested immediately, police said. The investigation into the incident is ongoing, Murray said.

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