Couple tries to trade their baby for beer and money at campground, Arkansas cops say

A couple is accused of trying to sell their baby for a 6-pack of beer and $1,000 at an Arkansas campground, investigators say.

Deputies responded to a 911 call from a campground near Beaver Lake on Sept. 21, according to court documents filed in Benton County. The call came from the owner of the campground, who was concerned after learning about a couple attempting to trade their 2-month-old boy to a man they had just met at the site, investigators said.

The child’s parents, Darien Tyler Urban and Shalene Faith Ehlers, are facing felony charges, court documents show.

McClatchy News reached out to an attorney representing the couple on Sept. 25, but didn’t immediately receive a response.

After arriving, deputies spoke with several witnesses, all of whom appeared to be staying at the campground.

One man they talked to “smelled heavily” of alcohol, was slurring his words and struggling to stay upright, and told investigators the couple agreed to let him take their baby if he gave them a 6-pack, documents read. He agreed to the deal, telling investigators he made the trade because he was “concerned about the welfare” of the child.

He brought the baby with him to another man staying in a camper at the campground, documents say.

Urban and Ehlers later went to the camper and offered to sell their baby to the other man for $1,000.

The second man told investigators that Ehlers told him it was difficult for her to take care of the baby because of her pets — that “it was not working having three dogs and a baby,” documents read.

He agreed to buy the baby but he wanted it in writing, according to investigators, and he drew up a simple document for the couple to sign.

It read: “I Darien Urban and Shalene Ehlers are signing our rights over to (the second man) of our baby boy for $1,000 on 9/21/24.”

“Disclaimer: After signing this there will be no changing yall two’s minds and to never contact again.”

Urban and Ehlers signed the document. Investigators also obtained a cell phone video of Urban and Ehlers signing the paper, which was recorded for additional proof that they had agreed.

He didn’t have the money now, the man said, but told the couple he would bring them a $1,000 cashier’s check the next day, according to investigators. That never happened.

Instead, he took the signed agreement to the owner of the campground and explained what happened, at which point the owner called 911.

When investigators found Ehlers and Urban and asked them if they knew where their child was, they said he was “undergoing an adoption.”

Another witness deputies spoke with said the baby “had a bad ammonia and fecal odor.” She changed his diaper and saw a “heavy rash, blisters and swelling on the baby’s buttocks and genitals,” documents said. The diaper was also full of dog hair, the woman told investigators.

She gave the boy a bath, documents read.

It’s unclear how long the couple had been staying at the campground.

Investigators determined “Urban and Ehlers created a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury by abandoning their minor child initially with an obviously intoxicated male and ultimately with someone they did not know.”

They were taken into custody and are facing charges of endangering the welfare of a minor, and attempting to commit consideration for relinquishing a minor for adoption, records show.

Benton County is a roughly 200-mile drive northwest from Little Rock.