Shocking: Nyia Parler, 41, was taken into custody by authorities in Montgomery County, Maryland overnight Saturday on charges she wheeled her quadriplegic son into woods in Philadelphia then went to visit her boyfriend

A Philadelphia mother accused of abandoning her quadriplegic son in the woods before skipping town to see her boyfriend has been arrested.

Nyia Parler, 41, was taken into custody by authorities in Montgomery County, Maryland overnight Saturday on charges including aggravated assault, simple assault and neglect of a care-dependent person.

Police say she traveled to Maryland from Pennsylvania either last Sunday or Monday after leaving her 21-year-old wheelchair-bound son in a wooded park with nothing but a blanket and a Bible.

Parler's son, who is non-verbal and suffers from cerebral palsy, was found on Friday night lying beneath a rain-soaked blanket and a pile of leaves on the ground, 10 feet from his wheelchair and the Bible.

Officials said the son, who has not been identified, would have died if he had not been spotted by people walking on a nearby road, reports NBC Philadelphia.

'This kid is obviously a fighter. It's just unbelievable how we found him last night. It's just heartbreaking to see how another human, especially a mother, could treat him like that,' Lt. John Walker of Philadelphia Police told ABC.

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Arrested: Police say Parler went to Montgomery County to visit her boyfriend after abandoning the non-verbal 21-year-old in the woods

Horrific: The quadriplegic man was found here on the floor of a secluded woodland outside Philadelphia with this Bible and this blanket, 10 feet from his wheelchair. He'd allegedly been left there by his mother five days earlier

The son was hospitalized with dehydration, malnutrition, a cut to his back and eye injuries.

According to Philly.com two of his aunts, who are with him in hospital, have been trying to obtain guardianship for years.

Parler's other son, a 16-year-old, is said to be in the custody of an aunt.

A neighbor, who declined to be identified, told DailyMail.com: 'She used to push him out to the school bus in his wheelchair, she seemed to care for him. Whenever I saw him, I saw her.'

Another, who also wished to remain anonymous, said: 'I would see them outside together in the summer when he got home from school. Nothing looked wrong, I didn't suspect anything.'

Walker said the son was exposed to the elements and other dangers.

'A lot of things could have happened out there,' he said.

Abandoned: A passerby noticed the 21-year-old here in a wooded Philadelphia park

'Obviously he's in the middle of a wooded area. You have wild animals there ... this kid could not defend himself. He does not function at all.'

Walker added : 'What we've learned so far is that the 21-year-old child lives with his mother, completely dependent on mom as a result of his condition.

'She also has a 16-year-old son who is staying with other family members.

'We know she left for Maryland on Monday to go see her boyfriend on a bus.'

The man had been reported missing from class at Philadelphia's School Of The Future on Monday.

However, when a teacher called Parler she told them they were both in Maryland and he was well.

Rescuers used flashlights to find the non-verbal in the East Lansdowne area of Philadelphia on Friday night