MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (WUSA9) -- A Philadelphia mother is still in a Montgomery County hospital, awaiting extradition back to Pennsylvania on charges of reckless endangerment, neglect, and aggravated assault for allegedly abandoning her severely disabled son in the woods for nearly a week.
Philadelphia Police say Nyia Parler dumped her quadraplegic son in the woods, where he lay for five days and four nights in rain and 30 degree temperatures with just a Bible and a blanket -- until a passerby noticed his wheelchair nearby and went to investigate.
The son is 21-years-old, but non-verbal and struggling with cerebral palsy.
Parler headed to Silver Spring, to hang out with her boyfriend.
"To see that kid laying there, it's heart-breaking to see another human, especially a mother, treat someone like that," said Philadelphia Police Lieutenant John Walker.
Parler's boyfriend declined to talk to the media. He is worried about how he'll survive now in a Silver Spring community where neighbors are furious.
The news hit Lemont Vaingueur especially hard. He cared for his disabled wife for a decade. "That's not good. That's not good to put somebody in the woods for five days. She put the Bible on him. That's not what the Bible teaches you to do," explained Vaingueur.
"I'm so happy," Parler posted on Facebook a day after allegedly abandoning her son in the woods. A friend responded, "Nyia, call me ASAP!" And another posted, "How the hell you happy?! Call me!"
"She had all the opportunities in the world to turn the kid over to family members who wanted to care for him," said Lt. Walker.
When medics rescued the disabled son, he was dehydrated, malnourished and suffering from an injured eye and a cut to the back. But police say he's recovering, and has a number of other family members with him and hoping to take him in.
Montgomery County Police say as soon as doctors release Parler from the hospital, she'll go before a judge for extradition to Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia Police were back out at her house today collecting evidence.
