Wallet found; couple still missing after Amber Alert

Jaxton's birth certificate shows he was born Feb. 18 at Duke Regional Hospital. By Feb. 23, someone called 911 concerned about his welfare and reported that Cothran and Brown had warrants out for their arrest.

"Mom has an active warrant and dad has an active warrant ... and we need custody of the child," the caller said.

Cothran is listed as the child's mother on his birth certificate, but the line for father is blank.

The caller, believed to be a DSS employee, said the couple were on their way to Chapel Hill Pediatrics on Sage Road.

"They're not stopping, they're continuing to drive," the caller said.

"We were ... needing to do a removal of the child. The parents have since gotten in their car and they're driving away. They report they are on their way to the child's pediatric appointment at Chapel Hill Pediatrics," the caller continued.

Child protective services had issued a court order for custody of Jaxton on Friday, when they asked authorities to help find him.

On Monday night, Chapel Hill police initiated an Amber Alert for the child. They told WRAL News they believed Jaxton was in danger, but did not say why.

Within minutes of the Amber Alert, the white Mercury Mystique that Cothran and Brown were believed to be driving was found at a Durham Big Lots at 3420 Southwest Durham Blvd. near the intersection of Interstate 40 and US 15-501. Inside was food, clothing, a base for a car seat and baby blankets.

Not long after, Jaxton was found nearby in his car seat.

Cothran and Brown walked away from the shopping center and into the nearby woods. According to Chapel Hill police, Cothran and Brown handed the baby over to police, but were not taken into custody.

Authorities said getting custody of the baby was their top priority.

As police searched for them Tuesday, WRAL reporter Chelsea Donovan found Brown's wallet near those woods and turned it over to police. The abandoned car remained in the parking lot until Tuesday afternoon.

Chapel Hill police said that while no charges will be filed in the Amber Alert case, the two have outstanding warrants but not in Chapel Hill.

A Durham woman said she made multiple calls to 911 and nonemergency numbers on Monday after finding the car involved in Monday's Amber Alert.

Lorna Ziegler said she called 911 three times and Durham police’s nonemergency number three times too after spotting a white Mercury Mystique in the Big Lots parking lot at 3420 Southwest Durham Blvd. near the intersection of Interstate 40 and US 15-501.

“I just kind of had a weird gut feeling,” Ziegler said of seeing the car.

Ziegler explained what she did when she realized the car matched the description in the Amber Alert issued.

“I parked, called 911 right away, did not get an answer [and] called about 30 seconds later,” Ziegler said. “Not an answer again."

After three failed calls to 911, Ziegler flagged down two people walking inside who did get through to first responders.

“It’s really frustrating,” she said.

On Tuesday, a city of Durham spokesperson explained why Ziegler's calls went unanswered.

"The 911 Emergency Call Center does have a record of three calls from that phone number, each ringing more than 33 seconds," the spokesperson wrote in an email to WRAL News. "Our records show that the center was experiencing a call surge, with 91 calls, during that time frame.

"The call center was normally staffed during that shift. Even though we were staffed appropriately, we sometimes experience ebbs and flows in calls, like all call centers, meaning that some calls may take longer to answer during a busy time."

The spokesperson urged anyone who is calling 911 not to hang up when their call isn't answered immediately.

"Callers should always let the phone to continue to ring, and it will be answered by the next available call taker," the spokesperson wrote.

Durham woman says 911 calls were unanswered after she found car involved in Amber Alert

The latest stats from earlier this month show of the 60 operational positions, which include call takers, 36 jobs are filled.

On the administrative side, which includes radio department staff, 19 of 20 positions are filled.

In total, about 69% of all positions are filled at the Emergency Communications Center.

Also, there are 10 part-time employees.

Ziegler says getting the calls answered is an important issue.

"Your heart is beating fast,” Ziegler said. “Iit's terrifying. You're like, ‘I need an answer right away.’ It's important, you'd think someone would answer for this emergency."

Ziegler, who is a mother of two children, said she loves Durham.

“I feel like we could help out as a community, not just police looking around,” Ziegler said. “I think it’s good to look out and be alert.”

'Nobody was picking up:' Durham woman calls 911 during emergency, no one answers

Both Cothran and Brown have past charges and convictions for drugs. Cothran also had a civil summons served on Feb. 14 of this year. The summons from the Orange County Department of Social Services states she was not properly caring for her three other children, ages 6, 5 and 3.

The summons reads, "the defendant has failed or refused to adequately contribute to the support or maintenance of the minor children."

Brown has been convicted of multiple DWI charges, and a previous girlfriend charged him with assault in 2015.

That woman told investigators that her son was present at the time of the assault. A domestic violence protection order was filed against Brown. The order said Brown had a history of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect.