Mum charged for making kids live in crate
A mother from Missouri in the United States has been charged with two counts of felony child endangerment.
Her kids, aged four and six, were a shocking find in a cave that police had searched last Friday (Sept 11) as part of a stolen vehicle investigation.
The children were living in a wooden crate, in the cave, and had rotting teeth and lice in their hair.
One was found eating dried instant noodles from a dirty cup.
Mirror UK reported that they had no clean water to drink or bathe themselves.
According to the NZ Herald, the 24-year-old mum, Brittany Mugrauer, said that she and her kids have been living in the dirt-filled crate for a few days.
Jackson County detectives had found that the crate was missing one side and that it was surrounded by other car parts and vehicles that were in various states of despair, reported Fox News.
Thankfully, when the police found them, the children did not appear frightened of their surroundings or that they had been left alone.
They were taken to Children's Mercy Hospital, where they were bathed and given clean clothes.
The cave that the kids were found in exists as a leftover from limestone mining a century ago.
Police officers were searching it following an investigation into the cave as a possible 'chop shop' where stolen vehicle parts are dismantled and sold or used to fix other stolen vehicles.
The cave was in a series of caves that featured either paved roads and developed business spaces or dirt floors and uncontrolled entrances.
Source: Fox News, NZ Herald, Mirror UK
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