The mother and grandmother of a 2-year-old girl in San Antonio were arrested after cameras spotted the little girl barefoot and alone in a wooded area overnight.
An unnamed property owner contacted law enforcement at around 6 a.m. local time Friday after she saw footage on her game camera from 3 a.m. showing the little girl, wearing a dress but no shoes, meandering about in the woods. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said that, with temperatures in the 40s, the little girl’s life was at risk.
The girl’s mother, Haley Peoples, reported at around 7:20 a.m. that her daughter had gotten out of the house earlier that morning. Ms. Peoples also said that she found her daughter outside at around 4:15 a.m.
Deputies went to her home and purportedly found rat droppings, rotting food, trash, soiled clothing and a heavy urine smell, and noticed the little girl was also soiled.
Medical personnel wanted to evaluate the 2-year-old, but Ms. Peoples declined. Deputies then detained Ms. Peoples over the conditions at her residence, the alleged risk posed to the 2-year-old and her refusal of medical care.
The girl’s grandmother, Rebecca Kelly, arrived at the scene as the investigation was ongoing but then left.
Ms. Kelly, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said, went to pick up Ms. Peoples’ other three children at their elementary school.
School staff said that Ms. Kelly tried to get the other kids out of class before 9 a.m., that she said that child protective services personnel were arriving at the family’s residence, and that she told the other children not to discuss the incident as a “private family matter,” the sheriff’s office alleged.
Ms. Kelly was detained at the school and accused of obstructing the child safety investigation, and ultimately all four children were taken to a local hospital for evaluation. The sheriff’s office did not say whether the children are now in the custody of child protective services.
Ms. Peoples was arrested for abandoning or endangering a child with imminent danger of bodily injury, and Ms. Kelly was arrested for interfering with an abuse or neglect investigation. Both were booked into Bexar County Jail.
Both women were released after posting bond, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
