Officials: Mom stashed Covid-positive son in trunk

Police are looking for a woman who was caught with her Covid-19-positive child stashed in the trunk of her car at a Texas testing site, according to officials.

The woman, Sarah Beam, 41, is facing an endangering a child charge in connection to the incident Monday at a Harris County testing site. The mother was waiting in line at the testing site when she revealed to a Cy-fair ISD official — identified in court records as Bevin Gordon, director of health services — that her 13-yearold son was in the trunk of her car.

She wanted her son to get another test but did not want to get sick herself, Beam explained, according to court records. Putting her son in the trunk would prevent exposure, she said.

Gordon asked to see Beam’s son — which then required her to get out of the car and open the trunk. The child was lying down inside, court records continued.

The official told Beam her child would not get a COVID-19 test until he was moved to the back seat.

She left to alert a police officer; by the time she returned, the child was in the back seat.

Police reviewed surveillance footage from a nearby school to confirm the child got out of the trunk and into the vehicle.

The teen was not harmed during the incident, Cy-fair ISD spokeswoman Leslie Francis said in a statement. She said Beam recently worked as a teacher at the district but that she is currently on administrative leave.

Records show Beam at one point worked as an English teacher at Cypress Falls High School.

Beam has not been arrested, jail records show.