New Jersey mother says 2-year-old daughter was missing a braid when she picked her up from day care

The mother of a 2-year-old girl in New Jersey is demanding answers after she picked up her daughter from day care last week and noticed one of her braids was missing.

She is now pursuing legal action.

Mother takes action against New Jersey day care after a piece of her daughter’s hair goes missing

Tamara Hemingway, the mother of the child, said she sent her daughter Myla to day care with four braids on the right side of her head.

She said when she called to check in on her daughter, a staff member at the Growing Kids Academy in Ocean Township, N.J., noticed one braid on Myla’s head was missing.

When the mother questioned the day care about her daughter’s hair, the day care said there is no evidence a braid was pulled from her head.

“Then that’s when she sent me the picture, and that’s when I saw the big bald spot in my child’s head with the braid missing,” said Hemingway.

A photo that Hemingway shared with ABC 7 Eyewitness News appears to show a portion of the child’s hair missing.

“You have to use some type of force to for a braid to be removed. It was a cornrow so it was braided down to her scalp. There’s no way that, I don’t know who could have done it, but I know for a fact she or kid would not have done that,” Hemingway told the outlet.

Police report

According to a report with the Ocean Township Police, Myla’s hair looked normal around 11 a.m. Video obtained from inside the classroom showed her playing with the braid several times.

The officer noted one of the teachers is seen on video trying to take a smock off Myla’s head around 11:45 a.m. at which point she is seen putting her hand to the right side of her head.

After this, the officer noted they no longer saw the braid.

Even after searching, the hair or the barrettes were not found.

Mother is upset how New Jersey day handled the situation

Hemingway says although she’s concerned about the manner in which the braid came off, she’s more upset in the way the day care handled the situation.

“They’re supposed to notify me. Just to even like give whatever little information you do have about the incident until you look into it further and confirm. But no one even called me to just let me know that little bit of information. I’m very upset and I’m very frustrated because this is my child. Like she’s not able to let me know what happened. And that’s the concerning part, the fact that they’re just so insensitive. Like no one even called me to check on her, see how she was doing,” Hemingway said.

Hemingway says Myla has been removed from the day care and says the 2-year-old has been sensitive to people touching her hair ever since the incident.