Woman arrested for child desertion after reporting 2-year-old missing

A 2-year-old boy was reported missing Sunday morning after the child's mother told Bossier City police that she and her boyfriend, 25-year-old Benjamin Adam Ashcraft of Shreveport, went to the Horseshoe Casino during the early morning hours and brought along her 2-year-old son, Gage Walker Roe, with them.

While the child’s mother was in the casino, Ashcraft stayed in the SUV with the child in the parking garage but left before the woman returned. The SUV was located a few hours later in Shreveport at the intersection of Hearne Avenue and I-20 but the whereabouts of Ashcraft and the boy were unknown.

Roe was located unharmed later that afternoon.

Upon locating and interviewing Ashcraft, detectives concluded that no criminal charges are warranted in regard to his involvement in Sunday’s incident.

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Detectives learned the child’s mother, Celeste Marie Wilson, 36, of Shreveport, gave her consent for Ashcraft to watch her son and her vehicle while she went into the casino.

After waiting on Wilson to return, Ashcraft left with the child in Wilson’s vehicle so that he could find a WIFI hotspot to instant message Wilson since he no service with a cell phone provider.

Ashcraft messaged Wilson, who agreed to meet him in front of the Horseshoe Casino to get her child, but she never showed up.

When Wilson failed to meet Ashcraft and her child, Ashcraft left in Wilson’s vehicle and went to a friend’s home in Shreveport where an acquaintance agreed to take the boy to her home and watch after him until Wilson could be contacted.

Ashcraft later abandoned the vehicle at the intersection of Hearne Ave. and I-20 in Shreveport due to a mechanical issue. 

Wilson was arrested Monday on a criminal warrant for child desertion and booked into the Bossier City Jail.