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Country star Mindy McCready is being sought by Florida police after she and her son Zander went missing Tuesday night. The "Ten Thousand Angels" singer seems to have disappeared in an attempt to take illegal custody of the 5-year-old boy.
McCready, 36, has a history of personal and legal problems, mostly stemming from drug and alcohol addiction. (She was a cast member on the third season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.) She lost custody of Zander in 2007 after she was jailed for violating probation. (The violation: assaulting her mother during an argument about McCready's drug and alcohol use.) At that time, McCready's mother was granted custody of the boy, with McCready being allowed to visit him at her parents' home.
And that's where the singer was last seen picking up Zander before she was reported missing to the Cape Coral Police Department, a spokesperson for the Department of Children and Families tells the Associated Press.
Late on Tuesday night, McCready posted a Facebook message telling fans that her son is "not missing" and that "police established that this afternoon via Skype."
"I have been fighting the Florida court system to protect my son, and bring him home, Please do not worry," McCready wrote.
On Wednesday, the singer reiterated that both she and her son are safe. "I am working with lawyers to try to get all this straightened out," she tells Access Hollywood. "I did not steal my child, as it would be impossible for me to kidnap what already belongs to me! There never was any missing persons report and never an Amber Alert."
Contrary to the singer's assertions, the authorities are worried; the judge has given McCready until 5 p.m. Thursday to return Zander to his grandmother and grandfather before a warrant is issued for her arrest.
McCready has led a troubled life since becoming a teen country sensation in the late 1990s. Her past decade has been marked by an abusive relationship (with Zander's father, Billy McKnight) and three alleged suicide attempts. In 2010, after her time on Celebrity Rehab, she was hospitalized for a possible drug overdose.
