3-year-old’s Drowning Could Have Been Prevented, Parents Charged With Felony Child Neglect

The last time Reena Mae wandered away from home, it was allegedly at least the sixth time she was reported wandering the streets without adult supervision. She was 3 years old.

When little Reena Mae went missing on August 14, more than 100 neighbors and volunteers searched for the preschooler. After searching the wooded area surrounding the 3-year-old’s home, Reena Mae was found. She had drowned in the canal, a mere 25 yards from her front door.

Before Reena Mae drowned, a neighbor allegedly found her wandering the streets about 12 blocks from her Wisconsin home, reports The Stir. After returning the girl home, neighbor Diana Naylor was shocked to hear that, a short two hours later, she was reported missing.

“That was just appalling,” Naylor said in a statement, “that she could go missing and get returned, then be missing again an hour later.” The Stir agrees: “And she’s right. It’s completely appalling.”

Apparently this wasn’t the first time Reena Mae had wandered off alone. WTAQ reports that “two witnessed … had seen the 3-year-old alone or with a dog and no adults in downtown Danbury, about a mile-and-a-half from the family’s home.”

According to WTAQ, the home was investigated when Reena Mae’s parents were charged with felony child neglect resulting in death. According to the criminal complaint made by investigators,

“The windows facing the canal were covered with sheets. officers also found regular and synthetic marijuana, along with paraphernalia in the home … The home is surrounded on three sides by water without appropriate fences or safety devices, and that it was not a safe place for a three year old child.”

Williams, the child’s father, was the caretaker of the dam on the property. The Huffington Post reports that Reena Mae’s parents, Jenna Danish, 33, and Thomas Jay Williams, 44, turned themselves into police on Sunday, and are currently being held in the Burnett County Jail.

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