3 children lived alone for years in home found filled with human waste, trash 4 feet high after mom abandoned them: Sheriff

After their mother abandoned them, three children wound up living alone for years in a Pontiac, Michigan, house that was found filled with human waste and garbage piled four feet high, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies were called Friday to the house in the 600 block of Lydia Lane for a welfare check, authorities said.

The children were taken to a hospital for evaluation, authorities said, adding their clothing was soiled and their hair matted. Their toenails were several inches long, which made it difficult for them to walk, the sheriff's office said, adding that it appeared the children were unfamiliar with personal hygiene items and didn't know how to flush a toilet.

The landlord contacted authorities after not hearing from the mother since December, figuring something must have happened, the sheriff's office said, adding that the rent hadn't been paid since October.

Deputies found three siblings — a 15-year-old boy and two girls, ages 13 and 12 — living in squalor, the sheriff's office said.

Garbage was piled as high as four feet in some rooms, authorities said, adding that mold and human waste were found throughout the home. What's more, a toilet was found overflowing, and feces were found in a bathtub, authorities said, adding that the scene was processed by an evidence technician dressed in a hazmat suit.

Image source: Oakland County (Mich.) Sheriff's Office, composite

The boy told deputies he and his sisters had been living alone since their mother abandoned them in 2020 or 2021. WJBK-TV reported that the children would have been just 11, 9, and 8 when they started living alone.

The children lived on food their mother or a stranger left on the porch each week, authorities said, adding that the mother didn't leave toilet paper or personal hygiene items. The mother had contact with the boy, the sheriff's office said, but it appeared she had not seen the girls for years.

The sheriff's office said the children had not attended school since the abandonment, and they passed time watching TV or playing games. It appeared the girls haven't been outside the home in several years, either, authorities said.

The boy slept on a mattress on the floor while the girls slept on pizza boxes, the sheriff's office said.

The children were taken to a hospital for evaluation, authorities said, adding their clothing was soiled and their hair matted. Their toenails were several inches long, which made it difficult for them to walk, the sheriff's office said, adding that it appeared the children were unfamiliar with personal hygiene items and didn't know how to flush a toilet.

Neighbors said they weren't aware the children lived alone in the house and never saw them outside — but they did see the mother drop off things, authorities said.

Child Protective Services placed the children in the custody of a relative, authorities said.

The mother, 34, was found at another location and arrested without incident, the sheriff's office said, adding that she's not being identified because she shares the same name as one of the children. The mother, who told authorities the father is not involved in their lives, is being held at the Oakland County Jail.

The sheriff's office didn't say why the mother abandoned the children or what she was doing when she was not at the home, WJBK reported.

“Throughout my extensive career in this field, I have never encountered a scenario as dire and prolonged as this one, involving abandonment, neglect, and abuse of the highest order," Sheriff Michael J. Bouchard said. "This situation would be deemed deplorable and intolerable for an animal, and it is utterly unacceptable for your three children. The young girls have been deprived of any interaction with their mother and have not received an education for years. The far-reaching consequences of this abuse must be acknowledged. We look forward to presenting this case to the prosecutor and ensuring that she faces the consequences of her actions.”

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