MERCER COUNTY, WV – A Mercer County woman is in jail after a months-long investigation revealed she allegedly kept her three children in unsanitary and dangerous conditions in remote wooded areas to avoid Child Protective Services.
Ashley Nicole Smith, 30, was arrested on April 16, 2025, and charged with three counts of concealing a minor child and gross neglect.
She is currently being held in the Southern Regional Jail on a $25,000 bond.
According to a criminal complaint filed by Captain Steven A. Sommers of the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, the investigation began in April 2023, when CPS received reports of poor living conditions and suspected drug use by Smith and the children’s father. The family lived in Bluefield at the time.
Authorities claim the family was evicted and began moving frequently, losing contact with CPS for months.
Officials temporarily located the family in December 2023, but Smith and her partner allegedly refused to cooperate with drug tests.
By May 2024, CPS had lost contact yet again. Investigators learned from family members that the children were living in a trailer with no running water, snakes everywhere, and dangerous living conditions. According to reports, the children were dirty, thin, and poorly dressed.
On June 28, 2024, a CPS worker attempted to make contact at the location but was directed to leave by the children’s father.
Emergency custody was granted the same day, but Smith refused to hand over the children, claiming she was in Kentucky.
A tip led law enforcement and CPS to a remote location off Old Coaldale Mountain Road in Bramwell.
Deputies discovered a campsite in the woods where children were living in tents with insufficient food, water, and shelter.
Smith and the children were discovered deeper in the woods, while the children’s father was arrested on an outstanding Virginia warrant.
Authorities described the children’s condition as extremely poor.
They were covered in dirt and debris, two of them barefoot and wearing only t-shirts, with obvious injuries and signs of neglect. One child reportedly had insects jump off her while riding in a CPS worker’s car.
During a forensic interview in July 2024, one of the children revealed that they had moved four times in a month to avoid being discovered by CPS. She stated that they were often hungry and slept outside while their parents slept in the car.
Medical records later revealed that two of the children had never been immunized, and none were receiving regular medical care.