“I am working with lawyers to try to get all this straightened out,” she told Access Hollywood in an e-mail on Wednesday. “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.”
According to the Associated Press, however, the Department of Children and Families said a missing persons report was filed in Florida on Tuesday.
The DCF told the AP that the report was filed after the singer took her son, Zander, from the singer’s father’s home. McCready’s mother reportedly has custody of the child.
A judge has ordered McCready to return Zander by Thursday, the AP reported.
Country star McCready has battled addiction and a series of personal issues over the years.
In April 2010, she told Access about her stint on VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab,” explaining her diagnosis from Dr. Drew Pinksy.
“Dr. Drew in giving me a diagnosis, diagnosed me as a person who has co-dependency. The new age term is a ‘love addict,’” she told Access at the time. “It leads you into the wrong relationships and you go from one horrible relationship to another. Then I started drinking too much.”
In December 2008, the singer was hospitalized after cutting her wrists and taking several pills.
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:08 PM on 3rd December 2011
country singer Mindy McCready was found hiding in a closet with her five-year-old son last night after defying a court order to return him to legal guardian.
Police raided the Arkansas home of Ms McCready's boyfriend at around 8pm after tracking the pair down.
The multi-platinum-selling recording artist has been accused of stealing the boy from her mother, who has had custody of him since 2007, during a recent visit to her Florida home.
Found: Authorities have taken Mindy McCready's son Zander from her and into custody. The singer is seen here in a 2007 mugshot
Mindy lost custody of Zander, seen here in 2009, left, and in the arms of Rosie O'Donnell in 2006 at three months old, after several run-ins with the law
A judge had signed an order for the singer's son, Zander, to be taken into custody if he was not returned to his legal guardian by 5pm on Thursday.
Florida Department of Children and Families spokeswoman Terri Durdaller said that her agency was working with Arkansas state officials to bring the youngster back to his maternal grandmother in Florida.
Officials say he's safe and in good health.
Baby daddy: Ex-boyfriend Billy McKnight is the father of MCready's son
Gayle Inge, Zander's grandmother and McCready's mother, was tearful when she spoke about the news last night.
'I'm real excited that he's safe,' she said. 'But I can't explain what this is like. We feel for Mindy and we feel for Zander.'
Mrs Inge said that her son - McCready's half-brother - texted McCready, who responded with a text which said her mother would never see her again.
McNight was arrested after he tried to choke her in 2005
'I want to wrap my arms around her and tell her that I love her,' Mrs Inge said, adding that her daughter and grandson were found by authorities 'hiding in a closet.'
The evening's developments capped a days-long struggle between McCready - who is seven months pregnant with twins - and child welfare authorities and her own mother.
Authorities say McCready - who turned 36 on Wednesday - took the boy during a visit late last month to her father's Florida home, where she was allowed to visit the boy.
McCready's parents are divorced.
A Florida judge signed an order on Thursday telling authorities to take the boy into custody and return him.
It's not yet clear whether the singer could face criminal charges.
McCready said earlier in the week that she would not bring her son back from Tennessee, where she has a home, despite violating the custody arrangement.
Troubles: Mindy has been arrested five times, here is another one of her mugshots in 2005
She said that her son had suffered abuse at her mother's house, a claim that Mrs Inge vehemently denies.
'I'm doing all this to protect Zander, not stay out of trouble,' McCready wrote in an email to The Associated Press (AP) on Thursday.
'I don't think I should be in trouble for protecting my son in the first place.'
Reality show: In 2009, McCready took part in reality TV show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which was aired the following year in January and February
McCready told the AP on Wednesday night she was in Tennessee and could not travel because she is pregnant.
The boy's father, Billy McKnight, told NBC's Today show on Friday that he spoke on the phone with McCready and their son after the judge's 5 p.m. Thursday deadline expired.
'He did sound healthy and ok. He wasn't crying or scared,' Mr McKnight said about their son.
'I think she believes she has a case and doesn't realise she's pushing her luck on this one,' he said.
Speaking out: McCready appeared on The Dr. Oz show on U.S television last year, to discuss her troubles
McCready and her mother have had a long custody battle over the boy.
McCready had provided a series of emails to the AP with Lee County Judge James Seals' ruling to return the boy.
'Mom has violated the court's custody order and we are simply restoring the child back into our custody,' the judge wrote.
'Nothing more. Nothing less. The court makes no judgment about whether Mom will or will not competently care for the child while in her custody.
It only wants the child back where the court placed him.'
McCready found fame in the mid-1990s when she moved to Nashville at the age of 18, armed with only her karaoke tapes.
Her first album, 'Ten Thousand Angels,' sold two million copies.
Her next four albums weren't as successful. Her personal troubles began encroaching on her professional success.
According to her website, she suffers from severe depression.
In August, she filed a libel suit against her mother and the National Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc.,over a story published in the tabloid newspaper that quoted Inge.
And in 2008, McCready was admitted to a hospital after police said she cut her wrists and took several pills in a suicide attempt.
I believe that she can find out the best solution for her life whatever good or bad, she will find out what she should have it. She is happy when she become singer and she should have to in her family.