Florida mom discovers infant son missing after daycare gives him to stranger

This is not the first time the daycare has misplaced a child

Feb 26, 2021

A Florida daycare is under fire after giving a 7-month-old baby away to a stranger.

When Trinity McCoggle arrived at the Orient Road Child Development Center on January 25 to pick up her 7-month-old son, Adonis, she was left distraught when told her baby had been accidentally given to someone assumed to be the child’s parent, ABC2 News reports.

McCoggle can be heard on 911 call records screaming and begging for help.

Describing what happened, McCoggle said the daycare worker “went to the back to get him, and when she came back, she said, He’s not here.” The distraught mother said, “What do you mean he is not here?!”

The Hillsborough County Child Care Licensing Office confirmed a daycare staffer handed the baby over to a stranger without asking for identification. The agency moved to revoke the operating license of the daycare a month after receiving McGoggle’s complaint.

The woman who picked up Adonis reportedly returned him to the daycare within an hour after taking him, where deputies were waiting. The case is now listed as an “…inactive missing person’s report.”

Daycare owner Danice Donaldson released a statement saying:

“This child was the last child in the classroom, and when the elderly family member came, she pointed and said she came to pick up her grandson. The teacher who released the child never asked for ID as she assumed that she was the parent (family or guardian).”

This is not the first time the daycare has misplaced a child. A 4-year-old was once left inside a broken-down van and only discovered when someone saw her wandering into a building and contacted the sheriff’s office.

During an investigation into that incident, the county’s child care licensing office cited the provider in 2017 with three class one violations for leaving the child in the van. The business was hit with a $750 fine.

In 2018, the daycare was cited for multiple violations for being understaffed compared to the number of children, according to reports.

On Tuesday, the county spokesperson said regulators conducted “…. A complete review of this incident and the facility’s compliance history, it was determined that revocation of the license is the appropriate action to take at this time.”

An attorney for the daycare said his client planned to appeal the county’s decision.

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