The third installment of Celebrity Rehab Revisited, which will air this Sunday night at 9 p.m. catches up with several cast members from season three of the show. Coincidentally, we have an update on one member of that cast who isn’t profiled in the episode, Mindy McCready, who happens to be in the news this week for some family drama. McCready is facing some possible legal trouble after violating a custody arrangement and refusing to return her five-year-old son, Zander, to her mother, who is the boy’s legal guardian. McCready took the boy from her father’s home in Florida during a visit this week and brought him to Tennessee. In a letter she wrote on Thursday to the Associated Press, she explained “I’m doing all this to protect Zander, not stay out of trouble. I don’t think I should be in trouble for protecting my son in the first place.” McCready claims that her mother abused the child and that taking him away was for his own protection. The boy is now considered a missing person and a judge has issued an emergency pickup order for police to retrieve him and bring him back to his grandmother. McCready, who is currently expecting twins, claims she is unable to bring her son back to Florida because she can’t travel due to her pregnancy.
The boy’s father, Billy McKnight, says that he gave up a portion of his visitation with Zander so that McCready could see him this week. “I gave up my weekend to be cool, and it backfired on me,” he told the New York Daily News. “The judge gave her 90 days to complete her case plan and prove she’s responsible enough to raise a child. She needed some drug screening, parenting courses and to be a part of the solution. But she took biggest risk of all and left the state.” McKnight says he has spoken to both McCready and his son and he says the boy “sounded healthy and ok. He wasn’t crying or scared.”
Though her future is unclear, McCready might face criminal charges for taking the child. This story seems to change by the minute so we’ll keep you updated as it unfolds.
UPDATE: CNN reports that McCready and her son Zander were found on Saturday by police. Zander was taken into protective custody after the two were discovered hiding in a closet in a home in Heber Springs, Arkansas. McCready’s mother Gayle, who is Zander’s legal guardian, said “We feel sorrow for Zander because he’s traumatized, and for Mindy. We just hope she does the right thing from here on out and that this is a wake-up call for her.” [CNN]
[Photo: Getty Images]
