A young couple is facing criminal charges after trying to sell their 2-month-old for a six-pack of beer and $1,000 at an Arkansas campground, authorities say.
Darien Urban, 21, and Shalene Ehlers, 20, of Rogers, are charged with one count each of endangering the welfare of a minor and attempting to accept consideration for relinquishment of a minor, according to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by PEOPLE.
On Sat. Sept. 21, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the manager’s office at the Hide Away Campground and RV Park in Rogers, near Beaver Lake in the Ozarks.
The caller said that the parents of a 2-month-old baby tried to give up their baby in exchange for a six-pack of beer and then the money, the affidavit alleged.
Police arrived and the baby was taken to a local hospital.
Shortly after, a deputy who arrived on the scene obtained a letter that said, “I, Darien Urban and Shalene Ehlers are signing our rights over to (name of a man) of our baby boy (name redacted) for $1,000 on 09/21/2024,” the affidavit alleged.
The letter, which the couple are alleged to have signed, further said: “Disclaimer: After signing this there will be no changing yall two’s minds and to never contact again,” the affidavit stated.
Detectives spoke to others, including a woman who said earlier that night, Ehler came to her camper asking for beer and left when she and her husband said no, the affidavit alleged.
Saying he was concerned about the couple’s baby, another man told the woman he was going to give the couple some beer so he could “have the baby overnight.”
The couple agreed and gave the baby to the second man along with a diaper bag, the document alleged.
The second man brought the baby to the first man who was in another camper, and said he gave the couple several cans of beer in exchange for the baby, the affidavit claimed.
The woman said the baby smelled like ammonia and fecal matter and his diaper was full. When she changed his diaper, she saw that he had a heavy rash, blisters and swelling on his buttocks and genitals, the affidavit alleged.
She also claimed she saw dog hair inside the baby’s diaper.
Soon after Urban and Ehlers came to the camper where the second man had taken the baby. Urban and Ehlers spoke to the two men and signed the letter, which the first man told a deputy he drew up, per the affidavit.
The first man said he gave no money to the couple but told them he would get them a cashier’s check for $1,000 on Monday, the affidavit alleged.
A detective then spoke to the second man who “appeared to be heavily intoxicated.”
When the detective asked the couple where the baby was, Urban said he was with the first man “and that the baby was undergoing an adoption,” the affidavit alleged.
The two parents were detained and taken to the sheriff’s office for further questioning.
When interviewed by authorities, the couple allegedly gave similar accounts of the event, saying that the first man created the agreement “they videotaped to ensure it was legal and that they planned to ‘legalize’ it on Monday.”
The first man claimed he spoke to Ehler who told him “it was not working having three dogs and a baby,” and would surrender the baby to him for the $1,000, according to the affidavit.
Urban and Ehler were arrested on Sat. Sept. 21.
The two “created a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury by abandoning their minor child initially with an obviously intoxicated male and ultimately someone they did not know,” the affidavit alleges.
Urban was released from jail on Monday, Sept. 23, on $50,000 bond, according to online jail records. Ehler remains held on $50,000 bond.
The Arkansas Department of Human Services is caring for the baby.
It is unclear whether they have retained attorneys who can speak on their behalf.
