2-year-old found locked in abandoned car with juice bottle filled with alcohol and crack pipe

PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) - A 2-year-old boy has been released to the custody of his father after he was found locked in an abandoned car with a crack pipe and a juice bottle containing alcohol.

Deputies found the boy sleeping in the car in the area of Orchard Lake and S. Johnson Street at around midnight Saturday morning. The car appeared to have fresh damage to the front end.

The deputies were able to open the car and called an ambulance crew to check the little boy out.

A short time later the boy's aunt, 49, arrived on the scene and told investigators that she had been in the car with the child's 44-year-old mother. She also said that the car had run out of gas.

The woman told deputies that the child's mother, who has a history drug arrests, had left the scene in search of some money for gas. When she didn't return, the aunt reportedly said she went looking for her.

We're told the crack pipe was found in the center console and the spiked bottle of juice was on the floor in front of the toddler who was in a car seat.

Investigators say the aunt was reluctant to return to the scene after seeing deputies there. She was taken into custody and both she and the child were taken to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office's Pontiac Substation where the child was turned over to his father.

The aunt was questioned and released pending possible charges.

Police are seeking warrants for the child's mother. She has not yet been located.

The case remains under investigation.