A grand jury in North Carolina has indicted three people after police said a mother sold her 2-year-old child to a couple for a car.

The Thomasville Police Department said detectives began an investigation in July after a hospital report of a 2-year-old child with bruises.

Investigators said 47-year-old Tina Marie Chavis told hospital workers that she was the child’s mother. Chavis then claimed to have adopted the child, but couldn’t produce documentation.

Investigators later learned that 45-year-old Alice Leann Todd gave the child to Chavis and 53-year-old Vicenio Mendoza in exchange for a car last year.

All three are now charged with unlawful sale, surrender or purchase of a minor and jailed under a $50,000 bond apiece. It’s not known if they have attorneys.

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