A heartbreaking story out of Union County where a 14-month-old boy died in the flood waters after authorities say his mother drove through barricades and onto a road covered in water from an overflowing creek.
It happened on Highway 218 in New Salem in Union County Sunday night. Rescue teams were able to save the mom but didn’t find the boy's body until Monday morning.
Dazia Lee is understandably shell-shocked.
"He was my first and only child and now he’s just gone. I don’t even feel like a parent no more. He's just gone," said Lee.
The Charlotte mom was on her way with her son, Kaiden Lee Welch, to his great-grandmother's house in Wadesboro when authorities say she drove around traffic barrels on Highway 218 that authorities placed there after Richardson creek overflowed and covered the road.
"I've been traumatized. I can’t…" said Lee.
Lee said it’s too much to talk about, but the Union County sheriff said her car was swept up in 10-feet of water and slammed into a tree.
Sheriff Eddie Cathey said, "When she was trying to get out of the water she lost control of the child and then the rescue team rescued her but the child was lost."
She lost her grip on Kaiden and his body was found Monday morning wedged between the car's bumper and the tree.
Lee said, "I knew he was still over there."
And she insists that she’d seen others safely crossing the road and didn’t drive around a barricade.
"I was about to detour...I want to know whoever moved the barricades. I lost my son because of this," said Lee.
The sheriff added, "She was a stranger to this community driving on this road she did not know, she did drive around the barricades and proceeded on 218."
"The only thing I’m happy is they found him. Knowing that he's just gone. I just wanted to see him one more time," said Lee.
Both the Union County Sheriff's Office and the North Carolina Highway Patrol are investigating and will determine if any potential criminal charges will be filed.