Authorities take custody of baby born to Northern California mom lost in forest

PARADISE — A woman who became stranded and gave birth in a Northern California national forest says she took methamphetamine to get an energy boost after delivering her daughter.

Amber Pangborn, 35, told the Chico Enterprise-Record (http://tinyurl.com/nnq4baw) that her daughter is healthy, but Butte County Child Protective Services placed the baby in foster care. She says she's trying to regain custody after both she and her daughter tested positive for meth.

Pangborn said staff at the hospital where she was treated notified social workers because of the nature of the birth. Pangborn delivered in the backseat of her broken-down car in Plumas National Forest in June.

Pangborn said she got lost while travelling back roads between casinos in her native Paradise, a small town about 90 miles north of Sacramento.

She said she fended off insects, hunger and thirst for three days before lighting a brush fire to summon help. The quarter-acre fire worked and she and her baby were rescued.

She told the paper she voluntarily gave up parental rights to three older daughters after her husband killed himself. Butte County Child Protective Services officials declined to discuss Pangborn's case.

Pangborn said she got the methamphetamine from a man whom she had given a ride the night she got lost. She said she used it to keep up her energy while stranded.

Pangborn said the experience has been devastating and depressing. She said her baby is healthy and thriving and she doesn't pose a danger to her daughter.

"There's no risk to my daughter or anything," Pangborn said.

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Information from: Chico Enterprise-Record, http://www.chicoer.com