Deputies: Woman charged after children abandoned during camping trip

ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. (WHNS/Gray News) - Authorities said a missing woman was found and arrested after she allegedly abandoned three of her children after a camping trip in South Carolina.

WHNS reported the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office was searching for Courtney Taylor and her boyfriend, Eric Elrod, who were last seen leaving Cemetery Island on Lake Hartwell on Monday, where her three children were abandoned.

Deputies said around 3:45 p.m., three children between ages 12 and 15 were found stranded on the island by a passing boater.

The children told authorities they were camping with their mother and her boyfriend when the two reportedly left the children on the island to get water but never returned.

Taylor was later located and charged with three counts of child neglect.

Elrod is wanted for distributing methamphetamine, deputies said. He has still not been located.

The sheriff’s office reports the child abandonment case remains under investigation and urged anyone with further information to contact 864-260-4405 regarding case number 2022-08094.