A South Florida mother accused of taking her three young sons across the country without permission made her first appearance in Miami-Dade court Monday, where she entered a not guilty plea.
Carrie Weingarth, 32, is charged with custody interference for taking the children to California last month.
Weingarth became the subject of a multi-state search after she walked into Gulfstream Elementary School on Feb. 14 and without authorization from school officials or her kids' father took 12-year-old son Erin and disappeared along with his two brothers, Steven, age 8, and Derick, age 7.
After a massive search led by Miami-Dade Schools Police, Weingarth and boyfriend Christopher Coello were arrested in Barstow, California.
The kids' father, Steven Pena, who had custody of Erin, said he and Weingarth were in the middle of an ongoing custody dispute. Weingarth had custody of Steven and Derick, until a custody hearing that gave Pena full custody of the younger children.
Miami-Dade School Police took custody of the boys and brought them home on Feb. 23rd.
Weingarth had been ordered held on $300,000 bond but the judge lowered that amount to $100,000 Monday. She's due back in court on March 31.
