Mother charged after search for her, 2 children following frantic phone call

INDIANA, Pa. — A woman who, along with her two children, was believed to have been in danger is facing charges, Pennsylvania State Police said Wednesday.

Alicia Brumbaugh, 31, and her children, ages 1 and 2, had last been seen about 4 a.m. Monday at their home in Imler before they were found Tuesday, authorities said.

Investigators said they were with Brumbaugh's father-in-law, 56-year-old Edgar Decker Jr., who had an active felony warrant for a June 2018 retail theft out of Bedford County. Decker, of Roaring Spring, had recently been released from rehab, police said.

After state police asked for the public's help in finding them, a driver spotted the vehicle police were searching for on Route 422 near Oakland Avenue in White Township, Indiana County, and called 911.

Police tracked down the vehicle and Brumbaugh, her children and Decker were inside.

When troopers searched Brumbaugh's purse, they found suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, officials said. She is charged with endangering the welfare of children, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Decker was taken into the custody of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole.

Brumbaugh's children were placed in their father's custody, police said.

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Brumbaugh had made a frantic phone call to a family member just before 11:30 p.m. Monday from near the parking lot of a Walmart in White Township, police said. She said she and her children were with Decker and asked that police be called.

The cellphone used during that phone call was then believed to have then been turned off, authorities said.

Another family member of Brumbaugh contacted PSP Indiana just after 11:30 p.m. out of concern for the welfare of Brumbaugh and her two children.

Police said Wednesday troopers do not have evidence indicating Brumbaugh was held against her will.

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