North Carolina Parents On The Run After Allegedly Abusing And Abandoning 4-Month-Old Son

Brandon Augustine, 24, and Mildred Chestnut, 23, are on the run after leaving their child at the hospital with severe, life-altering injuries. Now, the police are asking for the public’s help to find the couple.

May 02, 2023
Brandon Augustine [left] is 5'8" and 160 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Mildred Chestnut [right] is 5'6" and 150 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

Brandon Augustine, 24, and Mildred Chestnut, 23, are on the run after leaving their child at the hospital with severe, life-altering injuries. Now, the police are asking for the public’s help to find the couple.

Photo by: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department

By: Robin Raven

Brandon Augustine, 24, and Mildred Chestnut, 23, are parents on the run after allegedly abusing their 4-month-old son and abandoning him at a hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police are asking for the public’s help in finding them, reported WCCB Charlotte.

Police have launched a fugitive investigation to look for the missing parents. They have been charged with felony intentional child abuse, and the CMPD has warrants for their arrest. The four-month-old boy is suffering from severe and life-altering injuries, according to authorities, but he is now in a safe place.

Augustine and Chestnut brought the baby into the hospital on March 20, 2023. They said he was injured in a minor car crash, but it was soon determined that the baby’s injuries were from abuse. A warrant was issued for the couple on March 21, but the couple went missing before it could be served, reported WBTV.

Dianne Augustine, Brandon’s mother, reported the couple missing in March. She didn’t know at the time that there was a warrant out for their arrest, and she told WBTV that she was in shock to learn about the charges against the couple.

According to the Charlotte Observer, the couple’s car was found on March 21 in Austell, Georgia. It was “obviously abandoned and intentionally hidden”, said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Major Luke Sell.

Sell shared that police think the couple has been receiving help with money, shelter, and rides. He said that anybody who is helping them hide from the police could face criminal charges such as aiding and abetting a criminal and/or accessory after the fact to a felony.

“It’s time to do right by your child. We’re just asking them to come do the right thing, turn themselves in,” Sell said.

If you have any information about the couple’s whereabouts, or this case, authorities ask that you contact the Charlotte Crime Stoppers online or call 704-334-1600. Your tip can be completely anonymous.

Next Up

Turpin House Of Horrors: Timeline Of How 13 Siblings Suffered Years Of Torture And Abuse

David and Louise Turpin were sentenced to prison after admitting they starved, beat, and chained up their children.

Cousin Of Black Lives Matter Founder Dies After Being Repeatedly Tased By Police

31-year-old Keenan Anderson died on Jan. 3, 2023, about four and a half hours after he was repeatedly tased by the Los Angeles Police Department.

Two Kidnapped Children Found Nearly One Year Later In Florida Supermarket

In February 2023, a routine vehicle tag check near a Winn-Dixie supermarket helped police locate the alleged kidnapper, 36-year-old Kristi Nicole Gilley, inside the store with the two children.

Toddler Who Was Kidnapped By Her Babysitter Reunited With Family Over Five Decades Later

On Aug. 23, 1971, Melissa Highsmith was kidnapped by her babysitter in Fort Worth, Texas. 51 years later, DNA testing helped her family find her.

5 Things To Know About The Natalia Grace Barnett Case

Michael and Kristine Barnett claim their adopted daughter who had severe dwarfism was actually an adult — and not a little girl, like birth records showed.

Texas Teen Who Was Reported Missing 8 Years Ago Allegedly Found Living With His Mom

Rudy Farias was reported missing after walking his dogs in 2015. He was found outside a church in June 2023, yet then authorities discovered he had never been missing and was living with his mother all along.

Armed Men Force Mother To Rob Bank By Strapping Dynamite To Her 7-Year-Old Daughter

Despite the ordeal, Michelle Renee says she wants “nothing but the best” for her and her child’s captors.

Stepdad Convicted After Restaurant Manager Held Up Sign Asking Child If He Needed Help

A manager at a restaurant in Orlando, Florida took action after noticing a young boy sitting away from his family, not eating or drinking, with bruises on him.

Former Couple Arrested Almost 35 Years After 5-Year-Old Girl’s Concrete-Encased Body Found

“The baby that was thrown out into a trash pile has been identified, and we’re working to bring justice to her,” an official says.

Where Is Sabrina Aisenberg? Infant Vanished From Florida More Than 25 Years Ago

If you have any information about this mysterious case involving Sabrina Aisenberg, who was only five months old in 1997, please consider reaching out to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children directly: 1-800-THE-LOST.