Abandoned Infant Twins Found After Crash Along I-20 In Harrison County

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Harrison County Sheriff's deputies were contacted by dozens of people who were traveling along I-20 Tuesday reporting a woman that was running into traffic on I-20.

The callers reported seeing a woman on the eastbound side of I-20 around mile marker 619, however, when Harrison County Sheriff deputies and Texas DPS Troopers caught up with the woman she was at mile marker 623. She was taken into custody after appearing to be under the influence of some kind of chemical intoxicant, according to a Facebook post by the Harrison County Sheriff's office.

After being placed in the patrol unit, the woman alerted the deputy to the fact that she had been driving her car and it broke down and that her two six-month-old infant twins were still in the vehicle. Officers had not noticed an abandoned vehicle in the area where she was detained.

So officers from the HCSO and Texas DPS Troopers began searching the area for the car. Authorities discovered a crashed car at the end of a service road along I-20. The vehicle appeared to be totaled after it crashed through some 'dead end' barricades on the service road and was still running.

One of the six-month-old infant twins was found in the vehicle, and the other was missing. EMS was called out to attend to the one child and while this was happening, the woman was able to slip out of her handcuffs and climbed through a small opening in the cage in the back of the patrol unit, and was able to get into the front seat of the cruiser.

After nearly a two-hour search along the highway and nearby wooded area, the second infant twin was found. KTLV reports, Fantasia Martinez, 26, of Marshall was booked into the Harrison County Jail. Jail records search shows Martinez was charged with driving while intoxicated, two counts of endangering a child, one count of resisting arrest, and one count of escaping custody and bonds totaling $114,500.