Flowery Branch couple charged with drug offenses, abandoning child

FLOWERY BRANCH - The parents of a two-year-old Flowery Branch girl are in trouble with the law after police say they abandoned their child Friday.

In a written statement, Flowery Branch Police Chief David Spillers said a neighbor alerted police when the child's mother sent a text, asking the neighbor to check on the little girl. Police determined the child had been left unattended for several hours.

When officers arrived at the apartment in the Quad Oaks Apartment complex on spring Street, they also discovered a small indoor marijuana grow operation. Spillers said the operation consisted of eight marijuana plants, complete with grow lights, potting soil, fertilizer, a variety of seeds and other items used to grow and manufacture marijuana. The value of the confiscated plants had an estimated street value of $8,000, according to the press statement.

Both parents, William Bryan Burbage, 28, and Elyse Marie Burbage, 26, were arrested in the incident. The father was charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute and manufacturing marijuana. The mother faces the same drug charges, and she also was charged with cruelty to a child in the second degree.

Spiller said the child was released to the custody of her maternal grandmother.