Police had initially arrested Pankey on drug charges, and she was jailed for a few days with another woman, the Denver Post said. After their release they roomed together for a few more days. During that time, Pankey told the woman that her son was missing and that she and her husband, Leland Pankey, would force Caden into the dog crate and make him stay there. On one night in July, she told the unnamed woman, they had left him there, the carrier covered in blankets, as he cried and called for water.