Texas mom missing since 2016 arrested at NC hospital

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A Texas mother wanted for child endangering, who has been missing since 2016, was arrested in Raleigh this week.

According to court records, 43-year-old Michele Roode Boyd was arrested on charges she faced back in Texas.

Boyd was reported to the San Antonio Police Department as a missing person in November 2016, just two days after she allegedly tied her daughter to an ice machine.

An affidavit for the woman's arrest says that on Nov. 25, 2016, police were called to a Walgreens location in San Antonio. An employee told officers that the child was found tied to the ice machine called "Twice the Ice." A witness said the child's mouth and arms were taped.

Investigators were not able to locate Boyd that night.

Police say they have reason to believe that Boyd had also tied up the girl the day before while shopping. Boyd allegedly placed a towel in her daughter's mouth and duct taped it shut. She then tied up the girl with a rope, according to the affidavit.

Boyd was apparently never arrested for those alleged crimes because she was never found.

That is until this Monday when she was arrested at WakeMed hospital in Raleigh.

The details of that arrest are unclear but records show she was brought into jail around 2 p.m.

After Boyd's disappearance, a Facebook page was set up, dedicated to finding her.

A 2017 article from mysanantonio.com says Boyd was a registered nurse.

In court on Tuesday, Sue Roode laid eyes on her daughter for the first time in 16 months. She said Michele Boyd had been acting paranoid in the days before her disappearance.

Sue Roode also said her daughter never intended to hurt her toddler.

"No. She was in fear for her daughter's safety," Sue Roode said. "She really felt that someone was after her and was gonna harm her family and that she had to get away from them for their sake."

Roode said family and friends never gave up hope that Boyd was alive, and said she believed Boyd had just been wandering this whole time ... and wound up in Raleigh.

"I want her to get some help and get back," Sue Roode said. "I want her to be able to get back to her daughter and be mommy. She needs her mommy."

A Wake County judge waived extradition for Boyd on Tuesday. Her mother said she'll be returned to Texas within the next two weeks.