Beware of Merle from the Orange-Montclair, NJ area

Received Thursday, December 18, 2008
I hired a 46 year old Indian woman, mother of 3 grown children, 2 boys, one girl – to nanny my two boys ages 6 & 9. I did a background check and checked her reference from a family she supposedly worked with for 7 years. Her name is Merle. After two and a half weeks on the job, she dropped my boys off at the Montclair, NJ YMCA for their basketball and swimming class, which went from 3:45-4:30, and NEVER returned to pick them up (Tuesday, Dec 9, 2008). When the Y called me to tell me my nanny wasn’t there, at 4:55 I tried to call her cell and her home, no luck – I was on a train home from NYC and was able to get my children at 5:45. I was obviously concerned that something terrible had happened to my nanny, after all, who would abandon two little boys at the local Y??!! I called the Orange police (the town in which she lives) to let them know I was concerned for her well being. Long story short, she did just ditch my kids, I know this because my ex husband drove to her house at 10:00 pm and found her car in the driveway. We contacted the police again, they came to her home and knocked on the door, her husband came down and told my ex husband he didn’t know what had happened. My ex asked for the keys to my house, my sons backpack with all of his school books and the car seat back. I have not heard from her at all. I post this because I want to make sure no one has to experience what I have, or what my kids have either. Also, I count myself lucky that the staff at the Montclair YMCA went above and beyond and didn’t let my kids just walk out the door. But please, don’t hire this woman!!!