RUSK, Texas — Law enforcement has identified the woman accused of having three children and a person with disabilities ride in the cargo area of a U-Haul truck.
Katherine Renee Sawyer, 42, is now charged with five counts of endangering a child and one count of endangering a person with disabilities, Cherokee County Sheriff Brent Dickson said Wednesday.
On July 19, police said she was found driving a U-Haul box truck with three passengers aged 3, 4 and 17 in the passenger area of the truck. None of them were wearing seatbelts. Deputies then found an 11-year-old, 13-year-old and 15-year-old as well as a 22-year-old with disabilities in the cargo area, the sheriff's office said.
The people in the cargo area were sweating profusely, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.
The woman, who was the mother of all the individuals, was placed under arrest at the time. Dickson said Sawyer told deputies they were going on a trip to Louisiana.
According to the CCSO, Child Protective Services is working in conjunction with them to make arrangements for the children.