Mother Allegedly Tries To Drown 'Possessed' Daughter, Pushes Other Children Under Water To 'Baptize' Them

A woman in Pennsylvania was arrested for allegedly trying to drown her children in a creek in an attempt to baptize them.

The Dauphin County mother told a witness that one of her children is "possessed," WGAL News 8 reported Tuesday.

Before her arrest, the 31-year-old suspect, identified as Candice McElwee, drove around with her four children for a few days in early September, eventually stopping at Stoney Creek in Middle Paxton Township.

The children, aged 3, 7, 10, and 12, told investigators that their mother tried to "baptize" them and pushed their heads underwater multiple times, as per abc27 News.

"I'll drown my own daughter," the mother said, according to the children's account.

State Police officers responded to Stone Glen Road for a welfare check on Sept 6. During the investigation, the witnesses informed them that they saw McElwee and her children walking down the road around 3 a.m.

One witness told the police that they took McElwee to a gas station after she claimed of running out of fuel. The unidentified witness then drove the mother and kids back to their vehicle from the gas station. The witness further revealed that McElwee mentioned wanting to baptize her children because one of her children was "possessed."

"I have a problem, one of my children is possessed and I need to manage it... I need to eliminate one child," the witness recalled McElwee saying, according to the criminal complaint.

The child "will be resurrected and all will be good again," McElwee allegedly told the witness.

State Police further found that McElwee may have been experiencing health issues and using methamphetamine. They also learned that the mother and her kids had not been seen for two days.

Cops eventually tracked down the eldest of McElwee's children at a relative's house. After a thorough search, they also located McElwee and two other children in Cumberland County.

McElwee was taken for a mental health evaluation and the children were placed in a family member's care.

According to the criminal complaint, the children quoted their mother, saying a "flood was coming" and that their father was the "son of the devil."

They were "the only real Christians," the children added, quoting their mother.

McElwee also allegedly tried to bury her children under rocks and dirt by telling them that they would be dead for three days before resurrecting and going to heaven.

She was taken into custody at the Dauphin County Prison and charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault of children under 13, and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child.