Mom Jailed After Wandering Toddler Found Crying in Parking Lot

A 29-year-old woman was arrested after deputies found her 3-year-old daughter wandering around a parking lot crying for her mother in Mission Viejo, a sheriff's spokesman said today.

Milanya Sergei Mundell was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail on suspicion of child endangerment and being under the influence of a controlled substance, said Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies found the girl about 9:40 p.m. Wednesday in an apartment complex parking lot on California Court, Amormino said. The tot had been wandering around crying out for her mother, he said.

Deputies knocked on doors for about 20 minutes before finding Mundell's apartment. The front door was open, but the bedroom door was locked, according to Amormino, who said deputies repeatedly knocked on the door and then heard the toilet flush several times.

Mundell appeared to be under the influence of narcotics, he said, adding that deputies found a syringe in the home.