Mindy McCready Sought By Police After Fleeing With Son

Mindy McCready's ongoing child custody battle has taken yet another controversial turn. Authorities in southwest Florida say the country singer fled with her 5-year-old son, Zander, on Tuesday (Nov. 29). Her mother, Gayle Inge, has custody of the child, and Mindy only has visitation rights.

A Florida NBC affiliate reports that Mindy's father admitted to a Children's Network case worker that his daughter and grandson left his Cape Coral home earlier in the day. The case worker filed a missing persons report, and a judge has now ordered the 36-year-old singer to return Zander by 5:00 PM ET this Thursday (Dec. 1). Still, Mindy's rep insists this is not a missing child case, and the singer is not being accused of any legal wrongdoings. An Amber alert has not been issued, because the boy is with his mother. In fact, police spoke with Zander via Skype yesterday, confirming his safety.

Mindy, whose birthday is today (Nov. 30), has been battling her mother over custody of Zander for years. In 2007, she was arrested after a physical altercation with Gayle. Last year, she asked a judge to stop her mother from giving what court documents state is "erroneous information to the media ... to sabotage her [reunion] efforts with her son." Her request was denied.

That court action came the same week Gayle called police saying her daughter had taken drugs in an attempt to commit suicide. The 'Ten Thousand Angels' singer insists her mom was overreacting and that she simply had a bad reaction to some prescribed pain medication. A month later, Mindy sued both her mom and the National Enquirer's publisher, American Media, Inc., for an article the tabloid ran titled 'Mindy McCready Doesn't Deserve to Have Child Back.'

The multi-platinum selling singer has a laundry list of troubles that have undoubtedly overshadowed her musical talent. She has been hospitalized for two admitted suicide attempts, with the latest coming in 2008 after her decade-long affair with married baseball star Roger Clemens was exposed to the media. She has also served two jail sentences for various charges, with most relating to drug and alcohol-fueled crimes. But Mindy claims to have kicked her addictions on the reality show, 'Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew,' with the show's host verifying her triumph.

"It's a scary and risky situation to undergo rehabilitation on television in front of the whole world," she told The Boot last year. "I didn't want to talk about family issues, I didn't want to talk about my childhood. I didn't want to hurt my family. Dr. Drew said things that really got to me more than anybody else. I had worked with Dr. Phil and 20 other doctors, and nobody seemed to have the answers. Nobody seemed to be able to identify what my true issues were and how to deal with them."

Mindy assured her Facebook followers last night that she Zander are OK. "I have been fighting the Florida court system to protect my son, and bring him home," she posted. "Wink TV has once again reported nothing but lies and they are most likely being supported by the attorney for DCF child services. There is NO AMBER ALERT and my son is not missing! Detectives from the Cape Coral Police department established that this afternoon via Skype. Please do not worry or support anything they continue to lie about!!"

Mindy's rep insists the singer only took Zander away for his own safety, claiming he is in both physical and emotional danger at the Inge home. Whether or not she returns her son to Gayle Inge tomorrow, Mindy will likely continue to fight for custodial rights.

"The most pivotal moment in my life was when I had been in jail for about two months and my son [Zander] came to visit me. He was 17 months old, and the day I left to go to jail was the first day I had slept without him, in his whole life," she told The Boot. "And I was devastated, because he didn't recognize me. I was like, 'What have I done? I have got to change. I've got to be a better person. I've got to be a better mother.' And that's when I really started to make a conscious effort to do everything differently."

STORY UPDATE: Mindy McCready now claiming to be pregnant with twins. Read the story here, and watch the video below for more on this breaking baby news.