Member Story: I accidentally left my child at the store

Posted on February 21, 2025

A terrifying realization struck Tiffany Wheeler* after she and her children arrived home from a late afternoon shopping trip. Her three-year-old son, Mason, was not with them. Somehow, he had been left behind at the store.

As soon as they realized Mason’s absence, Tiffany’s husband Nicholas called the police. The officer confirmed that Mason was safe in their custody after someone had found him at the store. However, rather than allowing the Wheelers to pick up Mason right away, the officer informed them that Child Protective Services would be placing him in a foster home for the night. CPS would contact them in the morning.

Distraught at the thought of Mason spending the night with strangers, the Wheelers quickly called the Heritage Defense 24/7 emergency helpline. Tiffany spoke with a Heritage Defense attorney and mentioned that a family from their church were licensed foster parents. She asked if he could not come home if it might be possible for Mason to be placed with them instead.

The Heritage Defense attorney put Tiffany on hold and called one of our local attorneys who practiced near the Wheelers. Despite the late hour, the local attorney readily agreed to help.

After speaking with the Wheelers, the local attorney contacted the police and CPS. He successfully convinced them to place Mason with the foster family who were friends of the Wheelers.

The following day, the local attorney spent most of the day with the family, advocating on their behalf, organizing witnesses to vouch for their character, and attending meetings with CPS. The meetings went extremely well, with nearly thirty friends and family members showing up to support Nicholas and Tiffany.

Thanks to the swift action of the attorneys and the overwhelming support from their community, Mason was returned to his family less than 24 hours after Tiffany’s initial call to Heritage Defense. Shortly afterward, CPS informed the attorney that they were closing the case and that all allegations were determined to be unfounded.

Nicholas and Tiffany expressed their appreciation:

“Between your organization and our attorney, we felt like we had this shield between us and CPS. We weren’t worried about them taking advantage of us and our situation. All of the communications went through him. Anything from the social worker had to have him included, whether it was a phone call, an in-person meeting, a text message, or anything. He had to be in on all of it. So that was really reassuring.

“A dozen other families in our community contacted us and told us about their incidents, and, oh wow. We have so much to be thankful for, especially considering how smoothly this went compared to all those other cases. Thank you so much. We really appreciate everything you do.”

Member Story: I accidentally left my child at the store

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