Mother of 12-year-old boy found alone at Walmart arrested

WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — WFPD investigated a child abandonment case after a 12-year-old boy was found by employees wandering around a Walmart about an hour after it closed on Sunday, June 16 2024.

Shortly after midnight, police were called to the Walmart on Lawrence Road on Sunday, and employees told police they found a child after the store closed at 11 p.m. Saturday.

They said the boy told them he was in the store with his mother, Candace Marie Elder, who had gone to the bathroom. He waited and began looking for her when she did not return. Arrest records show Elder has an address in Lawton.

A search warrant for Elder was issued on Thursday, June 20, 2024 and Elder was arrested on Friday, June 21, 2024.

Police and Walmart employees searched the restrooms and the entire store, but there was no trace of the mother. Security footage from inside the store showed the boy walking alone in various locations until he was found after closing. A check of exterior cameras also showed the boy walking alone through the Panda Express parking lot around 7:45 p.m. on Saturday.

CPS was called to take emergency custody of the child and a crime against children investigation began.

According to court documents, the CPS investigator assigned to the boy's case spoke with him and told him that before the incident at Walmart, he was at a store in Wichita Falls on Hwy. 79, with his mother.

The victim reported accidentally breaking some items while at the storage unit, which upset Elder.

To avoid burdening his mother, the victim said that around 7:45 p.m., while Elder was driving on Lawrence Road, he exited the vehicle in front of Panda Express and entered Walmart.

According to the CPS investigator, Elder told the victim that he was 12 years old and capable of fending for himself and that if he needed help he could find his father, who apparently lived in Sacramento, California.

According to the affidavit, Elder said the boy was destroying things and talking back. She also said the victim wanted to go live with his father and that's when he got out of the vehicle. That's when Elder said her son was 12 and old enough to be independent.

According to the affidavit, the victim has never met her father and does not have his contact information.

Elder said she did not live in Texas, refused to give the CPS investigator her address and said she did not need to be involved in the courts. Elder also said she grew up in the foster care system and that the boy would be fine, according to court documents.

Court documents also state Candace admitted to CPS that she left the victim in Wichita Falls and left the state.

Elder was arrested and charged with abandoning or endangering a child without intent to return. She is incarcerated in the Wichita County Jail and a $100,000 bond has been set.