Country singer Mindy McCready attended a court hearing yesterday to find out the fate of her son, Zander, who was recovered by police over the weekend after Mindy absconded with the boy from Florida to Arkansas. Following a scheduled visit last week, Mindy was supposed to return Zander to his legal guardian, his grandmother, who has had custody of him since 2007. Instead she fled with the boy cross country, leading to a missing persons report and a multi-state manhunt. US Marshalls and police eventually found Mindy and Zander cowering in the closet of an empty summer home in Arkansas owned by Mindy’s boyfriend. Zander was put in foster care temporarily before a judge could rule on his fate.
After the custody hearing yesterday, Mindy was smiling broadly and said that she just loved the judge. (You can see video of Mindy outside of court, above.) The court details are sealed, but it’s known that Zander will remain in Arkansas with a foster family for now.
“I can’t talk about it, but I can tell you all I’m a happy girl,” the 36-year-old McCready said after the proceeding in Izard County Court.
While she didn’t disclose exactly what was decided in the closed-door session, the troubled entertainer did heap praise on Judge Lee Harrod.
“I love Judge Harrod, I’ll tell you that. I love that man. He’s a good man,” she also told the gaggle of media before driving away.
Later that evening, according to ABC News, McCready texted HLN’s Jane Valez Mitchell, which the host read on the air.
WE WON!!! ZAN STAYS,” wrote the I’m Still Here singer. “Court details sealed but we love Judge Lee W. Harrod.”
Given it’s a family matter and court documents are sealed, it’s unknown if, in fact, the judge granted the country star permanent custody or temporary custody, like allowing her to take her son back with her to Nashville, or whether he ordered Zander remanded to his grandparents.
An attorney for McCready was unavailable for comment, but her camp did issue a statement to E! News confirming that “Mindy and Zander both remain in Arkansas at this time” and that “Zander remains with a foster care family” there.
[From E! Online]
After fleeing with Zander, Mindy told the AP that she was seven months pregnant with twins, and then her rep confirmed to People that she was just five months’ pregnant with twins. In the video of her leaving the court room she’s wearing a big poncho and it’s hard to tell, but she doesn’t look seven months pregnant with twins. That was one of her excuses for not returning Zander. Another excuse was that he was her property and “it would be impossible for me to kidnap what already belongs to me.” She also accused her mother of abuse. Mindy has a long and storied history with the law and with addiction. I’m thinking she would easily lie to get her way, since she had no problem breaking the law. Still, many of you commented that it’s not unlikely that Mindy’s mother could be abusing Zander. Look at how her own daughter turned out.
Second two photos above are from 2008. Credit: WENN
That poor little boy.
So who is the dude in the top photo? And how much did her enemies pay you to post those second two pics? đŸ˜‰ Yikes!
Oh Mindy…I mean, I just can’t figure out if she’s delusional or not. Definitely sad for little Zander. So unfair to him.
Poor Zander
So for (almost) his whole life, Zander has lived with grandma. Nut-job mom runs away with him and instead of returning him to the safety and comfort of his home with his grandmother, he gets to stay in foster care? That judge is as crazy as the boy’s mama.
If the grandmother is abusive as the rumors say, then a *good* foster home might be the best thing for the little tyke. Emphasis on good foster home, though, because not all are.
I was thinking the same thing, how could foster care really be considered a “victory?” But if he “she said/she said” between Mom and Grandma is true maybe he really is better off without either of them.
Poor kid. This woman is an asshole. If her mother has had custody since 2007, that is pretty much this child’s whole life. Maybe the grandmother isn’t totally on the up and up but I have a strong feeling he’s better of with her. And those poor unborn children if she can handle that. I’m guessing the court order is just temporary because of the allegation of abuse on the part of the grandmother.
Does MM have no shame whatsoever? This whole thing is a horrible country song in the making.
It turns out that the grandmother and husband are ministers of what sounds like a whacky church, almost a cult the name of it was so weird. The poor kid. Not a normal one in the bunch.
I hope the kid get sent back to grandma in Florida. Even if he likes the foster family, they are still strangers to him and he would be better at home (i.e. in Florida). Little kids don’t need this crap. MM is delusional druggie and would say anything to get her own way. I’ve worked with parents like this – don’t believe anything they say. To them, it’s all about winning/ ego and not about their child.
Just because Grandma is “Family”, do not assume he’s better with her than a Foster Family. We do not know anything about this woman. Let’s just hope the court system makes the right decision for this child based on what’s best for him, and that they do not have your attitude that he belongs with “Family”, just because.
Yeah there was recently a local news story about a man who had been put into foster care when he was young and it profoundly affected him for the rest of his life. It was the first time he ever felt safe and part of a real family and he is eternally grateful to them. So foster care can definitely be better than “real family.”
But the grandmother has already been through the ringer with the courts in Florida and they placed the child with her as opposed to the mother. She has had custody almost since the child was born (since 2007?). That means that she has been to court numerous times, been investigated by police, social agencies, etc. and found to be OK. If Mindy really had anything on Grandma, she would have used it long ago. So that’s why I’m saying the child should go back to Florida.
This is also the state of Florida and they are notorious for having a ridiculously sloppy child welfare system because they are hellbent on placing the children with the family when it may not be in the child’s best interest. Children in Florida either have to be dead or pretty close to dead before the welfare system in Flordia will do anything about it.
LiLo in 10 years???
BITE YOUR TONGUE! Can you imagine that twit with a kid? Mother Crackhead would have a whole new generation to ‘raise’ and PIMP OUT!
Mindy McCready accused her mother of child abuse before she was well known addict. She did interviews in the 90s talking about being abused by her mother. While what Mindy did was wrong, Florida has some major problems when it comes to their family law system/child welfare system. Children usually wind up dead from child abuse before they are ever taken away in Florida. It’s been really bad down there for a long time. In the late 1990s there was a case of the mother trying to regain custody of her son only to have that boy murdered by his stepmother and that child was going to school with black eyes and bruises on a very regular basis with child welfare being called weekly on the stepmom and nothing was done until after the boy was dead. I’m not saying Mindy is telling the truth but I would not throw away what she is saying either about Zander being abused. The judge in AK is erring on the side of caution for the time being and he probably has an inkling of an idea of what a mess it is in FL. There needs to be a thorough investigation on both sides before anything is allowed to happen with Zander.
Don’t forget, those supposed perfect grandparents are the same ones that raised Mindy, look how she turned out. Maybe she just doesn’t want the same fate for her son. If she’s turned a new leaf and is sober for the health of her unborn kids, why not let a son be with the most important person in his life, his mother. Obviously if the father of the child was a good parent he would have had custody instead of her wacky parents. I think she deserves another chance, the kid probably wants to be with her. And she’s probably been paying her parents child support.
Agreed. The family court system in Florida is horrendous, they still haven’t found over 1000 children who were/are in foster care, they were sending money to people who hadn’t had foster’s in years. The family court system has been proven for decades to be an out of control mess with piles literally of dead children who were returned to abusive and neglectful homes with zero follow up. Mindy grew up with her mother, and talked about her abuse long before her child was born, it’s her fault for being a drug abuser and losing the kid in the first place, but that doesn’t mean granny is a good alternative. Except in Florida, where you can still buy your court outcome. If she’s clean, I hope she gets her son back, but if she goes dirty again she should have her parental rights taken away for good. Then the choice of how things go in the future is totally in her own hands.
Just because a child ends up being a crackhead does not mean its because of the parents. It seems every crackhead out there wants to put the blame on mom and dad etc for whats they have done in thier life. I had a crappy father etc but turned out just fine. I think it all has to do with how weak minded a person is. Mindy needs to suck it up and stop acting like a crazy person and stop having babies she is not able to take care of!