Children found abandoned in filthy Pontiac home; sheriff's office collecting donations
Three kids left in squalor for years; mother arrested in Pontiac
Three children were living in filth for years, sleeping on pizza boxes and unable to even flush a toilet, the Oakland County Sheriff said.
PONTIAC, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Oakland County Sheriff's Office is collecting donations for three children recently found living alone in a filthy Pontiac home.
The children, ages 15, 13, and 12, were found Friday inside a home full of feces and trash. According to the sheriff's office, their mother had left them alone in the home around four years ago, and would return to drop food off to them.
What you can do:
New and gently used clothing donations are being accepted for the children, who are currently living with a family member.
Clothes sizes needed:
Girl's size 12 clothing and girl's size 6.5 shoes for the 12-year-old girl.
Girl's size 14 clothing and girl's size 7 shoes for the 13-year-old girl.
Medium men's clothing and size 9 shoes for the 15-year-old boy.
Donations can be dropped off at the county campus at 1200 N Telegraph, 38 E. or at the Pontiac substation at 110 E Pike.
The backstory:
WARNING: The details of this story are disturbing.
Sheriff Michael Bouchard said deputies were called for a welfare check at a home on Lydia Lane. The landlord called after he said he had not heard from the mother since December and that rent was last paid in October.
He told officers that he was concerned something had happened.
Deputies arrived and found the home full of garbage – piled as high as four feet in some rooms. The rooms were also covered in mold and human waste. The toilet was overflowing, and the bathtub was full of feces.
Inside the Pontiac home where deputies found three young children living in squalor and filth. Photo: Oakland County Sheriff.
The home was being lived in by the three children, alone.
The boy, the oldest of the siblings, said they lived in the home with their mother but that she abandoned them in either 2020 or 2021 – at least four years ago - when the children would have been just 11, 9, and 8.
The children survived on food that was dropped off on the front porch each week by either their mother or a stranger.
But they had no access to toilet paper or personal hygiene items. The sheriff said they were unfamiliar with personal hygiene and didn't even know how to flush a toilet.
They had also not attended school since she left them and instead passed time by watching TV or playing games. The sheriff said the girls had not been outside in several years.
The boy slept on a mattress on the floor, but the two girls slept on pizza boxes.
Inside the Pontiac home where deputies found three young children living in squalor and filth. Photo: Oakland County Sheriff.
"This situation would be deemed deplorable and intolerable for an animal, and it is utterly unacceptable for three children. They 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 this mother faces the consequences of her actions," Bouchard said.
According to deputies, neighbors were unaware that children lived in the home and had never seen them. They said they had seen their mother at the home each month.
The kids were all wearing soiled clothing with matted hair and toenails so long that it was difficult to walk.
Their 34-year-old mother was found at a different location and arrested. She told deputies that the kids' father was not involved in their lives.
The Source: This information is from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.