3-year-old girl in Georgia dies after spending 11 hours in frozen woods, mother charged

A three-year-old girl in Georgia recently passed away after spending almost 12 hours in the woods in freezing weather. Now, the mother has been arrested and charged in the case, according to Fox News Digital.

The report said Uriha Ridge, 35, faces charges of cruelty to children and a single count of felony murder. The authorities showed up at the Foxhall Resort after they were alerted on January 16 about a woman and her two children who were apparently lost in the woods.

Employees at the resort helped the authorities find Ridge and her two children. The two children, aged three and seven, were apparently found "soaking wet" and subsequently taken to the hospital to be treated. However, the three-year-old girl passed away after what investigators said was exposure to extreme weather, per the report.

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office said "[t]he consumption of illegal drugs is believed to be the root cause of why Uriha Ridge took her two small children into the woods, minimally clothed, in below-freezing temperatures, and in the rain for more than eleven hours."

The temperature dropped to 18 degrees on January 16, according to the National Weather Service. It was later found that Ridge had consumed illegal drugs before and after she went into the woods with her children, according to USA Today. The report also noted that the children were "minimally clothed where she spent more than 11 hours in the rain and below-freezing temperatures."

Ridge and the two children went into the woods around midnight, and Ridge did not call for help until 11:51 a.m. the next morning "despite having a cell phone with a properly charged battery."

The seven-year-old's medical condition was not immediately available.

USA Today reported that Ridge was booked into Douglas County Sheriff's Office Jail on January 19.

It also appears that this is not the first time Ridge has faced the law concerning child abuse charges. In November 2022, she was charged with cruelty towards children and assault, but she was eventually released on bond.

The warrant in that incident indicated she had beaten one of her daughters when she was just two years old. She was also found to have dropped the toddler while she was "heavily intoxicated." But again, she was granted bond and a judge allowed her to keep custody of her children.

It is not clear if Ridge obtained an attorney.

The case is still under investigation by the authorities in Douglas County.

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