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Ft. Dodge Woman Leaves Children At Jefferson Casey’s

At approximately 3 p.m. yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, employees at Casey’s General Store on North Elm Street in Jefferson reported to the Jefferson Police Department that two children had been left at the store for just over an hour. Upon arrival, officers learned that an 11- and an eight-year-old male had been left by their mother, 35-year-old Latoya Watkins of Ft. Dodge. She had pumped gasoline into her vehicle, but did not have a way to pay for it, driving away from the Casey’s with her 11-year-old daughter in the car, but leaving the boys behind. The children were transported to the Greene County Law Enforcement Center where the Department of Human Services (DHS) were contacted while officers searched for Watkins’ vehicle. At 4:15 p.m., approximately two and a half hours after she left the children at Casey’s, a Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy located her vehicle in the Hy-Vee parking lot in Jefferson. Officers entered the grocery store and found Watkins and her daughter. The girl was taken into protective custody and was released with her siblings to the DHS. Watkins was arrested and charged with two counts of child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor.

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