Florida Mother Arrested After Leaving Four Children Home Alone During Las Vegas Trip

Irene Miller, 50, of Kissimmee, Florida, was arrested Friday at Orlando International Airport on child neglect charges after deputies said she left her four children home alone while she traveled to Las Vegas. The Osceola County Sheriff's Office said a child called 911 just after 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 21 to report that her 9-year-old brother had been hurt when a dumbbell fell on his head. Deputies found the children, aged 14, 12, 11 and 9, with no adult present, and the boy was taken to Celebration Hospital and later released. Miller told deputies by phone she was working in Las Vegas and would return Oct. 23; investigators said she left Oct. 18. She said a babysitter from Tampa came in the mornings to get the children ready for school and check on them afterward, but was not required to stay overnight. The children's father, Mark Miller, 53, took them in. He wrote in a GoFundMe campaign seeking $5,000 that all five are living in a motel room.

Left-leaning NBC News and CBS News lead with the arrest and rely mainly on the sheriff's statement. They lay out the timeline and the babysitter arrangement, and NBC describes the boy's injury as apparently minor and notes the Kissimmee-to-Tampa distance. Neither mentions the father's fundraiser or any refusal to return. Right-leaning outlets frame the story more around the mother's conduct. The Blaze uses "WATCH," says cops had a "surprise" at the airport, and puts the absence at nearly a week. The Daily Mail leads with its claim that Miller refused to fly home even after the hospitalization, citing Captain Kim Montes, and adds the father's GoFundMe, the motel, and a head laceration. All agree on the ages, dates and airport arrest. They differ on the length of the absence and on whether the focus is the official timeline or the family fallout. NewsNation highlights body-camera video of the arrest.