A 40-year-old woman is facing charges after police say she repeatedly left her children alone for hours at a time. According to court documents, Melanie San Nicolas Dela Cruz is charged with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse.a woman reported seeing two of Dela Cruz’s children playing outside unsupervised in Dededo.

The children allegedly told her their mother had been gone “a long time.”The complaint states Dela Cruz has been leaving her children home alone for more than a year, and would sometimes chase them out so she could use methamphetamine. Officers noted the children had no visible injuries, but their clothes were soiled and dirty.

Child Protective Services was called in to determine next steps.an all-points bulletin was issued for Dela Cruz, who later refused to speak to police without an attorney.