Waukesha County mother accused of abandoning her 12-year-old son on the highway

WAUKESHA, Wis. – A Waukesha County mother is facing charges after police say she left her 12-year-old son on the side of the highway and drove away.

“Several calls to a 10- or 12-year-old who was on his shoulder crying,” the scanner sound could be heard. “He doesn’t know his mother or father’s name. We will set up a post.”

The boy was left on the side of I-94 at Calhoun Road on Thursday, November 7th. Waukesha County sheriff's deputies said it happened around 5:30 p.m. The temperature outside was about 50 degrees – and traffic was whizzing by 70 miles away an hour.

Officials say 43-year-old Flor Escalante was driving her 12-year-old to Sylvan Learning Center in Brookfield when the two got into an argument over the boy's grades. Deputies say the argument caused Escalante to pull over. Her son got out of the car – and she drove off.

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Court records show that after leaving her son on the side of that highway, Escalante told police she turned around to get him but couldn't find him. So she drove straight to Sylvan Learning.

After officers found the boy, they drove to Sylvan and arrested Escalante. Court records show she told police she did it because she felt her son didn't appreciate everything she had done for him. Escalante said she worked multiple jobs – and told the boy to walk the nearly two miles to Sylvan so he would understand “what contractions are.”

FOX6 News spoke with a family member who did not want to go on camera. This person told FOX6 News they didn't expect this from the mother, but the children were safe and staying with the family.

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Escalante is now charged with child abandonment and neglect of a child. She made her initial appearance in Waukesha County Court on Friday, November 8th. Escalante was released from jail on $500 bail.