Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE -- Gwinnett County police say they will not press charges against the mother of two toddlers found wandering around a major highway in Lawrenceville earlier this month.

Twin 3-year-old girls were found roaming unattended near Lawrenceville Highway and Hamilton Road on the morning of July 9, nearly three-quarters of a mile from their Phoenix Drive home.

The mother, who told investigators she was asleep at the time of the incident, will not face criminal charges, police spokesman Cpl. Brian Kelly said Thursday.

"It appears at this point in time that the mother will face no criminal prosecution in the matter," Kelly said. "There wasn't enough probable cause to prove that there was any neglect or anything like that."

Police responded to the call of a concerned traveler around 8 a.m. that morning, finding the two toddlers unharmed before taking them to South Precinct.

Around five hours later, their mother called -- with their father having left home at around 6 a.m. for work and the toddlers asleep in the bed with their mother, the twins somehow managed to get up and let themselves out of the house, the family told police.

Having all been up late the previous night, the mother and her three other children slept into the afternoon before discovering the girls were missing, they said.