Mom who vanished after complaining of head pains found safe
HENRICO COUNTY, Va. - A Virginia mother who went missing after briefly checking into a walk-in health clinic has been found safe and her husband has been arrested on an assault charge, reports CBS affiliate WTVR.
Connie Ditto, 41, of Henrico, was reported missing by her husband, Mark, on Wednesday, August 12 after he says she texted him the night before saying she was suffering from head pains and was leaving work to head to a walk-in clinic in nearby Short Pump.
Mark Henrico told WTVR his wife sent him a text that night from the health clinic and told him she was being sent to the hospital for X-rays. Police, however, later told Mark Ditto that wasn't the case; his wife had left the clinic before her name was called.
Police launched a search for Connie Ditto and she was found safe on Friday, August 14 at a hotel in Innsbrook. Shortly after she was located, the 41-year-old took out a protective order against her husband and a police source told WTVR Connie Ditto told authorities she was hiding out at the hotel because her husband assaulted her the week before.
Mark Ditto was arrested Friday by Henrico police and charged with assault, apparently in connection with that alleged incident.
From jail, Mark Ditto told WTVR over the phone that the allegations are false and that they stem from an incident on August 6 in which he says his wife was drunk and he and her daughters tried to take her car keys away from her so she wouldn't leave the house.
"I'm totally floored. We as a family are very happy Connie was found unharmed. I'm very sad and sorry for her apparent health problems. I'm very disappointed by what she's put her family through and all the people across the county who supported her search," Mark Ditto told the station.