Mary Foxworth leaves the courtroom after pleading guilty to first-degree criminal mistreatment in Lewis County Superior Court.
Anthony S. Foxworth, Sr., pleaded guilty in Lewis County Superior Court to first-degree criminal mistreatment, domestic violence.
Anthony and Mary Foxworth
A Centralia couple who failed to appear at their sentencing hearing last week on child abuse charges were arrested over the weekend in South Carolina after police tracked them using bank transactions and a cellphone.
Mary G. Foxworth, 43 and Anthony S. Foxworth, 45, each pleaded guilty in October to one count of first-degree criminal mistreatment in the case, which has been ongoing since January 2016.
The pair were arrested Saturday at the Vancouver Motel on South Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, by local police, according to an incident report from the Myrtle Beach Police Department.
They are currently in police custody in South Carolina.
“They will be extradited back to Washington,” Det. Patty Finch of the Centralia Police Department told The Chronicle.
It is unknown when or how the Foxworths will be brought back to Washington. They will face an additional charge of bail jumping, Finch said.
Both suspects were scheduled to appear in Lewis County Superior Court Nov. 1 to be sentenced on one charge each of first-degree criminal mistreatment. Prosecutors planned to ask for a sentence of 51 months each, pursuant to a plea agreement.
However, neither showed up for the sentencing hearings, and their attorneys told the court they hadn’t heard from their clients for several days.
Superior Court Judge Joely O’Rourke issued nation-wide no-bail arrest warrants for the couple and police began investigating their whereabouts, learning the Foxworths had last been spotted at a gas station in Grand Mound.
“First we got information that they were in Wyoming, and that was actually from bank account information,” Finch said.
Detectives and the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office worked together and “pinged” Mary Foxworth’s cellphone, which led them to an approximate location in Myrtle Beach, Finch said.
Local law enforcement in Myrtle Beach followed up and found the Foxworths in a hotel.
It appears they drove the entire way to South Carolina, Finch said.
Police first began investigating the Foxworths in January 2016 when their 16-year-old son was admitted to a hospital weighing 54 pounds and with medical conditions consistent with neglect.
The child was missing hair, had severe dental problems, was unable to stand and was not toilet trained, according to the Centralia Police Department. He had not been to a doctor since 2007 and was not enrolled in school or able to write.
The child and two others in the Foxworths’ care were taken into foster care.
Since then, the boy has gained more than 90 pounds and grown 4 inches and is attending school.
