ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – By the time Arkansas authorities took country singer Mindy McCready’s 5-year-old son from her and into custody Friday evening, one thing had already become apparent: her life has come to resemble a bad country song.
Since her emergence in the mid-1990s as a honey-voiced success story out of Nashville, McCready has been increasingly known for her personal foibles instead of her music.
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Last week’s custody battle was the latest in a saga of personal heartache and brushes with the law.
Florida Department of Children and Families spokeswoman Terri Durdaller said in an email Friday night that her agency was working with Arkansas state officials to bring McCready’s son, Zander, back to his maternal grandmother in Florida. His grandmother has been his guardian since 2007.
Officials said he’s safe and in good health.
Gayle Inge, Zander’s grandmother and McCready’s mother, was tearful when she talked about the news Friday night with The Associated Press.
“I can’t explain what this is like,” she said by phone. “We feel for Mindy and we feel for Zander.”
Inge said Zander was taken into custody at McCready’s boyfriend’s lake home in Arkansas.
According to Inge, her son — McCready’s half brother — texted McCready, who replied with a text that said her mother would never see her again.
“I want to wrap my arms around her and tell her that I love her,” Inge said, adding that McCready and Zander were found by police “hiding in a closet.”
McCready, 36, did not reply to emails late Friday.
It’s not yet clear whether the singer could face criminal charges.
She said earlier in the week that she would not bring her son back from Tennessee, where she has a home, despite violating the custody agreement. She said her son had suffered abuse at her mother’s house, a claim that Inge denies.
McGovern stable after head injury
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Former Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern was alert, comfortable and in stable condition at a South Dakota hospital Saturday after hitting his head during a fall, hospital officials said.
The 89-year-old former U.S. senator was taken by helicopter to a Sioux Falls hospital late Friday after falling outside Dakota Wesleyan University’s McGovern Library in Mitchell.
A school official said McGovern hit his head on the pavement about two hours before he was scheduled to appear on a live C-SPAN interview at the library.
“Senator McGovern is alert and resting comfortably but, as with any head injury, it is important that we observe the situation closely,” Dr. Michael Elliott, chief medical officer at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center, said in a written statement Saturday.
Sheen’s ex faces assault, cocaine counts in Aspen
ASPEN, Colo. – Police say Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife, Brooke Mueller, has been arrested in Aspen on suspicion of third-degree assault and cocaine possession with intent to distribute.
Authorities said officers arrested Mueller early Saturday at a nightclub after a woman reported being assault by her.
Mueller posted $11,000 bond and was released from custody. She is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 19.
Her attorney, Yale Galanter, had no comment.
Sheen and Mueller divorced earlier this year. Sheen was arrested in Aspen on Dec. 25, 2009, on suspicion of assaulting Mueller. He completed his probation in that case last November.
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