'Treatment' for mom after quadriplegic son found

Story highlights Mother must complete "treatment" before she can be extradited, Maryland police say Mom told police son was with her in Maryland, but he was found Friday with blanket, Bible Victim being treated for malnutrition, dehydration; mother faces host of charges after extradition

The Montgomery County (Maryland) Department of Police took Nyia Parler, 41, into custody Sunday after Philadelphia police reported that she left her 21-year-old son lying in the woods with only a blanket and a Bible while she hopped a bus to see her boyfriend in Maryland. A man walking through the woods found him near his wheelchair Friday.

Citing federal health care privacy laws, Montgomery County police spokesman Capt. Paul Starks said he could not divulge why Parler was receiving treatment, but he said she had to complete it before she could be extradited.

If she chooses not to challenge her extradition, she will be transported to Philadelphia once the treatment is complete, he said.

For more than four days, police say, the quadriplegic man, who also suffers from cerebral palsy, was left lying in the woods of Philadelphia's Cobbs Creek Park. Low temperatures reached the mid-30s during the week, and rain was reported in the area Wednesday and Thursday.

The man is unable to communicate how he came to be in the park, but Philadelphia police Lt. John Walker told reporters that the man's mother left him there the morning of April 6. Starks identified the mother as Parler on Monday.

"The mother went to visit her boyfriend down in Maryland, over in Montgomery County, and we believe she placed the child into Cobbs Creeks Park," Walker said at a news conference.

Walker told CNN the man was transported to Presbyterian Hospital, but CNN affiliates reported he was being treated at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He suffered eye problems, dehydration, malnutrition and a cut to his back that raised infection concerns, the lieutenant told reporters.

"This kid's obviously a fighter," Walker said during a Saturday news conference. "It's just unbelievable how we found him out there last night. To see that kid laying there, it's heartbreaking to see another human, especially a mother, can treat someone like that."

Officials at Philadelphia's School of the Future, which the man attends, became concerned when he didn't show up for classes last week and tried to contact his mother but eventually reached an aunt, CNN affiliate WPVI reported.

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'Treatment' for mom after quadriplegic son found