Overview

• Joanna Sherry Rutledge, 45, was booked into the Tooele County Jail on Wednesday and charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with child abandonment and aggravated child abuse, both third-degree felonies, and reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor.
• The case began Sept. 18 when the child called relatives saying she was starving and extremely thirsty; deputies found her dirty and dehydrated, provided a gallon of water, and took her to a hospital for evaluation.
• Deputies served search warrants Sept. 24 at trailers near the Grantsville Reservoir and documented dog feces, urine, garbage, dirty clothes, multiple dogs and puppies, and a lack of running water.
• According to a police affidavit, the girl said her mother often left her alone for long periods and would return drunk or high on methamphetamine, was sometimes physically and verbally abusive, and had kept her out of school for several years.
• Investigators noted that by Sept. 19, hours after authorities had contacted the child, the mother had not reported her missing, and the girl said she sometimes searched nearby trailers for food and water and once wandered alone, sustaining minor injuries.