Missing girl found at marijuana grow site; parents arrested

Two parents in Butte County were arrested on suspicion of child endangerment after deputies found their missing 3year-old daughter in an illegal cultivation site containing over 6,000 pounds of processed marijuana and more than 5,000 marijuana plants, sheriff’s officials said.

The Butte County Sheriff’s Office received a call shortly after 10:30 p.m. Monday from a woman who reported that her 3-year-old child was missing from a home on a 51-acre parcel in the 7000 block of La Porte Road in Bangor, a rural area several miles southeast of Oroville.

Deputies, detectives and search-and-rescue personnel began searching for the missing child, along with a tracking K-9. Yuba County sheriff’s deputies joined the search.

The child had been missing since 7:30 p.m. Monday. Detectives found evidence indicating that the child’s parents, a 35year-old man and a 32year-old woman, were cultivating marijuana on the property, the Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday afternoon in a news release.

Sheriff’s officials said the detectives learned that the missing child frequented marijuana growing sites with her parents. The sheriff’s tracking K-9 led deputies to an illegal marijuana growing site.

About 3:20 a.m. Tuesday, nearly eight hours after the girl was reported missing, deputies found her under a tarp that was covering a large illegal marijuana growing site.

The Sheriff’s Office said the girl was found about 2 feet from hundreds of marijuana plants; she was cold and required immediate medical attention.

The girl was taken to a hospital, where she was treated and released to Butte County Children’s Services.

Sheriff’s officials said the child’s parents, both Bangor residents, were booked on felony child endangerment charges at the Butte County Jail

Detectives served a search warrant Tuesday afternoon at the La Porte Road property and found roughly 6,600 pounds of processed marijuan and 5,200 marijuana plants, along with four firearms, according to authorities.