Police say a 3-year-old girl died after Georgia kept her children overnight in the frozen forest

A mother faces charges including murder and child cruelty after Georgian authorities say she spent the night in the woods with her two young children on an evening when temperatures dropped below freezing and one of them died.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded just before noon Jan. 16 to a report of a woman and her two children missing in the woods near Foxhall Resort in the town of Douglasville, about 20 miles west of downtown Atlanta.

With the help of Foxhall employees, deputies found the mother and her children, ages 3 and 7, “in a wooden area away from the resort hotel where they were staying,” according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.

Deputies, who identified the woman in the release as 35-year-old Uriha Ridge, “immediately began rendering aid” to Ridge and her two children.

According to the release, the children “were soaked and knew that the temperature had been below freezing all night.”

Emergency responders transported Ridge and her children to local hospitals, where they say the 3-year-old died “due to possible exposure to the elements.”

According to the National Weather Service, the lowest temperature in greater Atlanta on Jan. 16 was 18 degrees.

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Properly charged mobile phone and temperature below zero

An initial investigation by officials found that Ridge allegedly used illegal drugs before and after entering the woods with the children and “was dressed in modest clothing as she spent more than 11 hours in the rain and sub-zero temperatures.”

The family entered the woods around 12 a.m., and according to the release, Ridge didn’t call for help until 11:51 a.m. the next morning, “even though he had a cell phone with a properly charged battery.”

“The main reason” why Ridge went into the woods with her children is believed to be the use of illegal drugs, the publication continues, which led to the death of her 3-year-old child and the hospitalization of the 7-year-old.

The condition of the surviving child was not immediately known Thursday.

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Held without bail, he faces charges including murder

On Jan. 19, Ridge was booked into the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Jail, where online records show she remained without bond Thursday on multiple felony charges.

It was not immediately known whether Ridge had obtained an attorney.

Jail records show she was scheduled to appear in court this week on charges of murder, cruelty to children and possession of marijuana.

The case was still under review Thursday, authorities said.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her at X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia mom charged with murder after keeping children overnight in woods