Shocking : Nyia Parler , 41 , was taken into custody by authorities in Montgomery County , Maryland overnight Saturday on charges she wheeled her quadriplegic son into woods in Philadelphia then went to visit her boyfriend . A Philadelphia mother accused of abandoning her quadriplegic son in the woods before skipping town to see her boyfriend has been arrested . Nyia Parler , 41 , was taken into custody by authorities in Montgomery County , Maryland overnight Saturday on charges including aggravated assault , simple assault and neglect of a care-dependent person . Police say she traveled to Maryland from Pennsylvania either last Sunday or Monday after leaving her 21-year-old wheelchair-bound son in a wooded park with nothing but a blanket and a Bible . Parler 's son , who is non-verbal and suffers from cerebral palsy , was found on Friday night lying beneath a rain-soaked blanket and a pile of leaves on the ground , 10 feet from his wheelchair and the Bible . Officials said the son , who has not been identified , would have died if he had not been spotted by people walking on a nearby road , reports NBC Philadelphia . 'This kid is obviously a fighter . It 's just unbelievable how we found him last night . It 's just heartbreaking to see how another human , especially a mother , could treat him like that , ' Lt. John Walker of Philadelphia Police told ABC . Scroll down for video ... Arrested : Police say Parler went to Montgomery County to visit her boyfriend after abandoning the non-verbal 21-year-old in the woods . Horrific : The quadriplegic man was found here on the floor of a secluded woodland outside Philadelphia with this Bible and this blanket , 10 feet from his wheelchair . He 'd allegedly been left there by his mother five days earlier . The son was hospitalized with dehydration , malnutrition , a cut to his back and eye injuries . According to Philly.com two of his aunts , who are with him in hospital , have been trying to obtain guardianship for years . Parler 's other son , a 16-year-old , is said to be in the custody of an aunt . A neighbor , who declined to be identified , told DailyMail.com : 'She used to push him out to the school bus in his wheelchair , she seemed to care for him . Whenever I saw him , I saw her . ' Another , who also wished to remain anonymous , said : ' I would see them outside together in the summer when he got home from school . Nothing looked wrong , I did n't suspect anything . ' Walker said the son was exposed to the elements and other dangers . ' A lot of things could have happened out there , ' he said . Abandoned : A passerby noticed the 21-year-old here in a wooded Philadelphia park . 'Obviously he 's in the middle of a wooded area . You have wild animals there ... this kid could not defend himself . He does not function at all . ' Walker added : 'What we 've learned so far is that the 21-year-old child lives with his mother , completely dependent on mom as a result of his condition . 'She also has a 16-year-old son who is staying with other family members . 'We know she left for Maryland on Monday to go see her boyfriend on a bus . ' The man had been reported missing from class at Philadelphia 's School Of The Future on Monday . However , when a teacher called Parler she told them they were both in Maryland and he was well . Rescuers used flashlights to find the non-verbal in the East Lansdowne area of Philadelphia on Friday night . Investigation : Police arrested the man 's 41-year-old mother , who left him alone in the park on Monday morning to visit her boyfriend in Maryland . Officers recovered the man 's wheelchair ( pictured ) for evidence .
Philadelphia Police , 41 , allegedly left her 21-year-old son in woods on Monday and traveled to Maryland where she was taken into custody early Sunday . Her son was found under rain-soaked pile of leaves on Friday night and police say he would have died if passers-by had n't spotted him . He was lying on the ground 10 feet from his wheelchair and a Bible .