So last week there was a multi-state manhunt on for country star Mindy McCready and her five year-old son, Zander. Mindy took Zander from his court-appointed guardian, Mindy’s mother, in Florida. She went all the way to Arkansas, where US Marshalls and police officers found her hiding in a closet of a summer home with the boy. The home was owned by Mindy’s boyfriend. This woman has multiple DUI, drug and assault charges, and she’s claimed that she couldn’t have kidnapped the son she doesn’t have legal custody of because “it would be impossible for me to kidnap what already belongs to me.” In a recent court hearing in Arkansas, Zander was allowed to stay in Arkansas, for now, with a temporary foster family. The court details were sealed so it’s unclear what the judge’s reasoning was or how long the ruling was for. Mindy considers it a victory of sorts.
Well now Mindy is on 20/20 defending herself. Good Morning America had a preview today and she was just as defensive and haughty about her actions as you would expect. She also claimed that poor Zander was screaming and pleading with the police with drawn guns who found them. Mindy claims Zander said “Please don’t touch me, please don’t touch me, please don’t touch my mommy …. I want to be with my mommy!” She’s complaining about how her son was traumatized by a situation that she created. The kid is five years old. Of course he wants to be with his mom, but a judge ruled that she was an unfit parent. Her reasoning for seizing Zander was the same we’ve heard from her before: she gave birth to him, so she pretty much owns him.
“What I did was to protect my child,” she said, “and there’s not a person in the world who will tell me I am wrong.”
The country singer, 36, said when authorities found she and her son at her boyfriend David Wilson’s Arkansas lake house Friday, the boy began screaming and crying for his mother.
“Please don’t touch me, please don’t touch me, please don’t touch my mommy …. I want to be with my mommy!” McCready said Zander, 5, was screaming.
McCready’s mother, Gayle Inge, has had custody of her son since 2007, but the country singer says she feels taking him was not illegal.
“I do not, and will not ever think, that the child who I carried for nine months, who I gave birth to in the hospital by myself … that that would ever be breaking the law,” she said…
Zander has been in foster care in Arkansas since Friday night; after her most recent court appearance Monday, McCready said things in the sealed case were moving in the right direction.
[From Radar]
The details of why McCready took her son were not revealed in this teaser clip, but the interviewer said McCready “reveals some of her family’s deepest, darkest secrets and they were shocking.” Given how she justifies taking him by claiming that she gave birth to him, I would bet that she doesn’t need much of an excuse. We’ve heard that she’s accused her mother of abusing Zander, but no specifics have yet been given and she’s spent a lot of time defending herself and claiming that the boy is hers anyway. If he were being abused, you would think that she would lead with those details instead of continuing to insist that he’s her property. If she has specific details and evidence that Zander was abused though, I’ll gladly eat my words. If she did have that, why would she have stolen the child in the first place?
Also, the reporter said that McCready is six months’ pregnant with twins. Last week McCready told the AP she was seven months pregnant, and her rep told People she was five months pregnant.
Actually Mindy, I do disagree with you. I’ve watched my own mother have to try to track down my half brothers who were taken across state lines by their father. He does not have full custody of them but did it anyways because he only thinks of himself. Those were some scary moments for us and my brothers and no one should have to go through that.
Hi Mindy, I’m a person in this world. You’re wrong.
Co-sign.
Make that three people in this world who disagree.
Add another.
I don’t know that Mindy means to say that no one will disagree with her; I believe that she is saying that she won’t believe anyone who does.
I don’t know. I said it yesterday that Florida is notorious for having a horrid child welfare system but at the same time she needs to quit thinking of her son as something she owns. He’s not some sort of toy she can get just take back from a friend.
If there was evidence of abuse and nothing was being done about it then that’s one thing. If this is Mindy being entitled that’s another and in either scenario she was wrong for doing it the way she did. She should have fought harder in Flordia for custody and pushed harder to get her son back through the courts not like this.
She was dead wrong to do what she did. What kid wouldn’t scream that was faced with that same situation. She doesn’t deserve him. He is not your property, he isn’t something you picked up at Walmart. He is a living breathing human being who didn’t deserve to be put in the situation she put him in. Stupid bitch
WORD!
If she is 5, 6, OR 7 months with twins, she’d be showing.
I can’t imagine the trauma that poor boy has been thru. The thought of the whole scenario breaks my heart. That little boy will never forget having the police pointing guns at him and his mom.
Rereading that, what I was getting at was shame on her for putting him in that situation, not on the police for doing their jobs. This is not the way to deal with custody issues.
I agree. She could have easily stayed in Florida and fought for custody and if she was having problems with the child welfare or family courts in Florida then she could have used the media to expose them. She would have come across as a much more sympathetic figure than she currently is and it would have been done legally. This whole situation is only proving why her kid was taken from her in the first place.
Honestly, I’m not going to 100% believe that the cops went in there with their guns drawn. Maybe they did. Maybe they didn’t. I can see it going both ways.
But she was hiding in a closet with this child. And with these custody issues, things can go south rather quickly. Parents have been known to kill their children, though rarely, in some of these circumstances.
I do agree with you though. SHE put her child in this situation. Did she think the police were just going to walk away? If she cared at all about how traumatized he would be, she would have calmly talked to the authorities and passed him off to them or to an intermediary.
She sounds like a narcissist. And yes, if there was an allegation of any abuse, why no detail at all? Is there any record of her even working towards regaining custody of her son?
She needs to grow up if her children’s welfare is of any concern to her. I know social service agencies aren’t always bastions of decency and well thought out decisions but this child has been in grandmas custody pretty much all his life. There has got to be a reason for that. It is difficult in most places for a mother to loose custody.
And what about the two new future, poor little CPS cases she is allegedly pregnant with? She doesn’t know how far along she is? Maybe she should be drug tested?
She’s delusional to a point of being dangerous.
I’ve been kidnapped by my “mother.” My brother has been kidnapped by our “mother.”
If I’m not going to stick up for my flesh and blood, I’m certainly not going to stick up for you. You. Are. Wrong.
Dear Samigirl, I cannot begin to imagine what you and your brother went through. I hope you both were/are able to get back to a safe place where you could feel loved and looked after. No kid deserves to be a pawn like that.
I think she is wrong. If she wanted her son back, she should have gone through the proper channels – the Court. Hired a lawyer and fought tooth and nail to regain custody of the boy, not just taken him.
She has a sorrid past, is an addict. I’m sorry to say but addicts are notorious for being liars and manipulators.
If she would have been a MOTHER, doing the things she should have been doing instead of doing drug and other crazy stuff they wouldn’t have taken the child in the first place.
Oh and Mindy…..YOU ARE WRONG!
I apologize for what I am about to write but as soon as I heard “taking her son on the run,” I thought, “Hey, that should be the title of her next single.”
That’s so wrong it’s right!
Christ! I remember the cops showing up at my aunt’s house with my father to take my brother and I away from our mom. (My mom didn’t do anything wrong. My father straight up lied about her not having custody.) I was five or six. I thought the cops were going to take me and my brother (who was three), or my mom to jail. Scariest moment of my life. That poor kid.
You were wrong, Mindy. Should have worked your way through the system, instead of taking matters into your own hands. Your son was traumatized because you snatched him & the police had to come and get him. Take some freaking responsibility for your own actions.
OK, the lone voice of (qualified) dissent (with some reservations) …
1/. Mindy is a mess, no arguments. She’s probably bi-polar, compounded by years of self-medicatingrather than proper care and treatment.
2/. Mindy’s words are all wrong, and her mouth has gotten her into problems once again.
3/. Mindy has been saying for years (I think since 1998?) that her mom abused her and her younger brother. I have no idea if the stories are true, but Mindy’s mom sent her alone to Nashville to become a star at age 18; people say that her brother was forced to go on the road as a faith healer at an even younger age.
4/. A few months ago, not too many people had too much good to say about the Florida justice system in July when Casey Anthony was acquitted.
5/. Mindy tried the court route in 2004, and likely feels that it failed her. Plus she probably feels that she’s cleaned up her act since then.
6/. If Mindy had observed something, or if her son had told her something that made her feel that he was in immediate danger, should she have returned Zander and waited for another day in court in the same jurisdiction that she felt had failed them both before?
7/. I am not condoning custodial interference, I am just really glad that I have never been faced with this situation, and glad that I am (relatively) sane, (relatively) educated and come from a (relatively) sane and normal family.
She tried the court route in 2004? I thought this child was 5 years old now? Could your dates be off?
Sorry – missed that; the family court was 2008.
everyone is assuming this is a smart person. clearly shes an idiot.
smart people occasionally make bad choices but dumb people always do dumb shit.
the placement of the child into foster care may not be the best decision, but moderating her interaction with him at this point is.
Just what she needs, more children. I feel sorry for her offspring. They will be messed up for life because their Mother thought more about herself by drinking and drugging, than she did her children. Selfish, entitled addict!
*Off topic* Sorry for butting in with this, but am I the only person who is not able to see the very first comment made under each story? I can see that someone has posted, but I cannot ever see the comment itself. Anyone….?
I can’t either. I always wonder what I am missing lol
Well, I feel better that at least it’s not just me! Thanks for responding. 🙂
She looks about 55 years old. Yikes. So rough.
When I see this story all I see is how I would feel if someone stole my child. It’s not about property, you’re twisting the words there. It’s about raising your child, your flesh and blood. Having someone else warp their perception and abuse them… That would make me sick. But then I’m a sane and responsible person, and I’ve never done drugs.
This is a complicated case isn’t it ? On the one hand I won’t deny that Mindy was probably unfit to be a mother, and that having an addict parent is far from ideal. On the other hand it sounds like her mother abused her and the abuse is one of the reasons she is this damaged. I can understand why she wouldn’t want her son to be put through that as well.
In crazyspeak “and there’s not a person in the world who will tell me I am wrong.”
In reality “there’s not a person in the world who could convince me I am wrong”.
If her son was being abused more power to her and she absolutely did the right thing. If not she is traumatizing her son for no reason and needs help. Either way poor kid – he is in my prayers. He is to young to have to be dealing with any of this.
What’s with the title ‘Country Star’? I think she’s been irrelevant for about double the time she even mattered…
@ ruby I agree. Custody cases are quite complicated. And parents, particularly mothers, are forever damned if they do/don’t. If the grandmother is known to be abusive and abuses her 5 year old and he comes out with it 20 years later, or winds up on drugs or somehow messed up, people would then blame the mom, and be all “I would’ve taken my kid and run, I woldn’t have left my 5 year old with an abuser, she KNEW first hand her mother was abusive!”
People are judging her for saying “he belongs to me”. Well, in most cases people don’t mind someone saying “S/He’s mine!” when referring to their child. Just listen and see how many times you hear that in a conversation of parents.
The courts quite frequently make terrible decisions on a child or family’s behalf. Who then lives with those consequences? The child, the parent, the family. The court never has to pay for having made a wrong judgment and in fact subjecting children, sometimes, to years of abuse by the “guardians” they approve.
The best thing, obv., is to be a law-abiding citizen (this singer has not been that, sadly).
@ Jennifer
I agree with you completely, that’s what I was thinking only much better explained. We don’t really know the circumstances, and I’m surprised at all the hate being poured out. Does no one here relate to how a mother can feel living separate from her son, especially if she feels he is being abused ? There are definitely two sides to this story but for some reason people only want to see one.
Long story short, we simply don’t know the whole story so while speculating on what happened is perfectly ok, such harsh judgment is disturbing.
Ruby & Jennifer:
ITA with your statements. Normally I come on this site to heap scorn at “stars” who behave like entitled dinks. Some though I feel sort of sorry for, and I have no idea why I can be generous in trying to understand Mindy’s flaws and errors, whereas someone like La Lohan gets not one bit of compassion from me. Weird how it works but I feel more sorrow for this woman and her son than I feel anger or contempt.
Honestly, I don’t mind Lindsay as much as this twit because at least Lindsay isn’t dragging innocent babies into her drug-fueled mess.
And I’ve met some moms from FL. You’ve got to be pretty fucked up for them to take your kid. I once met a girl who was “in hiding” 1,000 miles away because her entire family tested positive for drugs & if the FL cops caught her before 30 days, she’d test positive too and her son would go to his father. Her. Whole. Family. Her exact words were “I have to stay here until I get the kit my Daddy ordered so I can piss clean.”
We don’t know the whole situation. I’m pretty sure I remember her discussing physical abuse when she was a child. If her mother was the abuser (and I if I recall correctly, she was), and she has custody of Mindy’s son, all she had to do to retain custody was bring up Mindy’s drug problems in court. If the kid’s grandma is hurting him, being with Mindy is the best choice now. She’s been clean for what, over 2 years? Is she just never allowed to have her kids in her life because she once had drug problems?
just because you refuse to hear it doesn’t mean people aren’t telling you that you’re wrong.
Mindy, you are wrong. You are wrong. You are wrong. Now grow up and start acting mature and ‘maybe’ you will get your son back one day.
I say you are wrong Mizz Mindy. So very wrong. 😐
Typical self righteous, self absorbed, delusional drug addict behavior. There is nobody more important, and no issue more urgent then their own. I’m sure emotional chaos is the show stopping tap dance she’s uses to get what she wants. She has been doing this for a long time. Its a perfected routine.
You are SO right. As the sister of an alcoholic, they are masters at manipulation!
If Mindy tried to get her son back in 2008, wasn’t that when she was trying to kill herself and on drugs? If her mother was abusive, that’s terrible, but Mindy must’ve done something to convince a court that she’s unfit. She’s not doing anything to convince anyone otherwise. She may not be articulate, but she’s not doing herself or her son any favors by the way she’s expressing herself. Why doesn’t his father have custody? Why is it the grandmother? It sounds as though both of Zander’s parents are addicts who consider him property and his father doesn’t seem to have either interest or a desire to care for him. I don’t understand what people think they’re getting into by being parents. They’re not babies forever and babies aren’t easy either. Between this woman and Brooke Mueller, these kids would be better off being raised by zoo animals.
Lets not forget that while she was pregnant that she overdosed in a suicide attempt, she fails to mention that. This woman needs help. I can’t believe she put her son in such a dangerous situation, she knew it was wrong why else would she be hiding in a closet? I feel so bad for her son , just breaks my heart
Mindy needs psychological help. Look up Borderline Personality Disorder. It’s clear to those who have dealt with people with this mental disorder that she has it, and she seems to be a pathological liar if they can’t figure out how many months pregnant she is. Not to mention the bias toward mothers in this country, and celebrity mothers at that. Mindy is an addict, sober or not, addicts are forever addicts. She is clearly a danger to her child if she thought that kidnapping him, running away and hiding with him was a good idea. If she has this supposed evidence of abuse against her mother, she should have gone to CPS or filed an emergency hearing. If she was a man who did this, every one of you know that he would be in jail with kidnapping charges.
What proof is there that her Mother was abusive to her? Was it something like her Mom trying to stop Mindy from seeing Roger Clemens when she was 16? I could see it being something like that. Such a waste of a talent.
I don’t agree, she did things that put her son in harms way and created a situation of terror for him. Mother’s run away from those situations not into them with their children. I am seeing addictions being an issue for her, so why didn’t she just prove the courts wrong and get into rehab, and do what was in the best interest of her child in the first place? I have been accused of many things in the family court, and the hoops they subject you to without any substanciated truth is a nightmare, but the thing is if your not the issue at that point you can appeal their decision. The courts do make major blunders sometimes, but as a mother you can’t intervene on a child’s behalf because you gave birth to them, it’s the motive and the relationship that dictates intent and at this point it isn’t really looking good for her as his mother, it’s my personal opinion of course, but a good one.
The court should have considered her very troubled relationship to the father of this child as well. I think she may at one time been very troubled, but the compoundment of the courts action against her custody may have contributed heavily on why this is happening today. Also, it’s been reported that her personal home life, and her relationship with her Mother was contencious as well, so all the way around it looks like she didn’t have a very sound support system which is obviously a consideration to think about before passing any judgement. Considering battered woman are also the victims of a very turbulent childhood. I hope it works out for her, but I wish she had someone to advise her that cared about her so she didn’t look so desperate right now, but maybe she is desperate for good reason, it’s yet to be determined.