10/02/2026
A mother left her four children alone while she went on a weekend cruise to the Bahamas. The father said he called police after finding the four children alone.
North Miami Beach police said officers forced their way into the apartment and found the children hiding together in a bathroom. The children are 9, 7, 2 and 2 months old. Body camera video was released to the media showing the officer counting them as they came into view.
“Hi. What’s going on, guys? It’s just the two of you … three … four?” the officer says on the recording.
Police identified the mother as Nathalie Belizaire, 29. Investigators said she left Sept. 25 on a three-day Carnival cruise to the Bahamas aboard the Carnival Conquest and was taken into custody Monday, Sept. 28, as she got off the ship at PortMiami.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers met the ship and turned her over to North Miami Beach police, according to the arrest report.
She is charged with four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm, a felony. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer set bond at $2,500 on each count, $10,000 in all, and ordered Belizaire to stay away from the children while a dependency case proceeds.
The father of the 2-month-old said he became worried after seeing what looked like a cruise ticket on Belizaire’s WhatsApp story. He said Belizaire had told him she would leave the children with their great-grandmother. He later called the grandmother and was told she did not have them.
He said he went to the apartment, did not have a key, and could see a television on and hear the children inside. That is when he called police.
According to the arrest report, the great-grandmother told investigators Belizaire had said she would drop the children off because she was going out of town, then never showed up. Belizaire’s brother told police she texted him about 8 p.m. Saturday and asked him to check on the children. Police said repeated attempts to reach Belizaire that weekend failed.
North Miami Beach Police Chief Juan Pinillos said a 2-month-old needs constant attention.
At a bond hearing Tuesday, Glazer pushed back on the defense.
“You cannot make this up. It says she went on a cruise and left her children home alone,” the judge said. “We’re just grateful that nothing worse happened to these kids.”
Belizaire’s attorney told the judge she denies the allegations. Glazer answered, “Of course she does,” and noted the baby was born in July.
Outside jail after posting bond, Belizaire said she did not leave the children alone. Asked whether she had arranged for someone to watch them, she said, “Yes, it was their dad.”
She also accused the father of setting her up. She declined to speak with police after her arrest and invoked her right to remain silent, according to the arrest report.
A Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson said customs officers escorted a guest off the Conquest when the ship arrived in Miami and that the matter was unrelated to the cruise or the ship’s operation. The company referred questions to law enforcement.
