GULFPORT, Fla. (WAND) - Police arrested a woman who left her three children unattended in a school bus overnight.
An officer found the bus in the Gulfport Municipal Beach parking lot just after 4:30 p.m.
The children, ages 3, 6 and 9 told the officer their mother left them on the bus the night before and went out on a boat.
Gulfport Marine Patrol searched the area and found the mother on a boat. Andrea Kerkins, 33, was on-board a boat owned by a middle-aged man.
Police say Kerkins had been smoking marijuana and planned to stay the night.
On the bus, police found mostly perishable food and five gallon bucket that was designated as the toilet.
Kerkins was charged with three count of child neglect. Police say the Florida Department of Children and Families have taken custody of the kids "for the time being."
