Springfield woman charged after boy, 10, allegedly missing for 7 hours

A Springfield woman is accused of child endangering after an Amber Alert was nearly issued for a 10-year-old boy who was allegedly missing for more than seven hours on Tuesday evening.

Jana Chanel Stanhope, 29, of 2503 Virginia Ave., faces two counts of child endangering. Stanhope plead not guilty in the Clark County Municipal Court on Wednesday morning.

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She allegedly left two children under the age of 10 at home while she went to work, according to a police report. Springfield officers were called to the home about 9 p.m. Wednesday by the suspect’s sister, who couldn’t find one of the children who was last seen getting into an SUV with a friend.

Stanhope came home from work and allegedly told police the children weren’t supposed to leave the home. She then told officers a 14-year-old neighbor was supposed to be watching the missing child, according to the police report. Stanhope allegedly had no way to contact the 14-year-old or his parents, the report says.

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Officers began calling numbers for the babysitter and his family but were unsuccessful. Police and family members began searching the neighborhood for the missing child but couldn’t find him and were nearing the point of issuing an Amber Alert, the report says.

The group then found phone number for the 14-year-0ld, who reportedly told police the child was at a pizza store on East Main Street. The child later told police he had gotten into a car with a 14-year-old and a man he didn’t know earlier and spent most of the day on the west side of the city. The child was gone for about seven-and-a-half hours, he told police.

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