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A Crestview woman is accused of leaving three toddlers at a home overnight and traveling to Shalimar, 21 miles away.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has charged 30-year old Tracy Holstead with three counts of child neglect.
Information was received that the children had been left alone for an extended time.
An OCSO deputy who arrived on scene found all the lights out except for inside a laundry room. There was no vehicle in the driveway. He knocked and rang the doorbell several times but no one answered.
A family friend arrived with a key and said she had permission to go in. She found the children, all under the age of four, asleep.
Voicemails to Holstead from the deputy went unanswered, but she did respond to a text from the friend.
When Holstead showed up back at the house she initially said she’d hired a babysitter, then admitted she had gone to a friend’s house in Shalimar and fallen asleep.
