International Courant
A West Virginia couple was arrested Tuesday after two youngsters had been allegedly discovered locked inside a shed in Sissonville, police stated.
In keeping with the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Workplace, police acquired a 911 name simply after 5:46 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, relating to the welfare of the youngsters. Deputy H.Okay. Burdette responded to the 200 block of Cheyenne Lane in Sissonville, the place she discovered the 2 sibling minors — a 16-year-old lady and a 14-year-old boy — “locked inside a barn.”
Deputies made a number of makes an attempt to contact relations however had been unsuccessful, native information station WSAZ reported. The youngsters stated that they had no method to open the door from the within of the barn, which investigators additionally known as a shed.
“Deputies needed to power entry into the barn the place they situated a juvenile male and juvenile feminine locked inside an approximate 20×14 foot room,” the sheriff’s workplace stated in a information launch. “The youngsters had no means to exit the barn on their very own, no operating water, no toilet amenities, and had been clearly disadvantaged of ample hygenic care and meals.”
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Donald Lantz, 63, was arrested on felony expenses of gross little one neglect. (West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority)
The teenager lady informed deputies they had been final given meals at roughly 6 a.m. Monday morning and had been locked contained in the shed since. She additionally stated this was an everyday prevalence for the siblings and that they weren’t allowed inside the home, per WSAZ.
Deputies stated the 20×14 shed had no home windows and contained a single desk and chair, no beds and no entry to operating water. A felony criticism reported by WSAZ states there was an RV bathroom sitting on the ground on a black tarp, however no functioning bathroom. The flooring of the shed had been concrete, and the partitions had been plywood. Deputies noticed a digicam within the high left nook of the room, the criticism states, in response to WSAZ.
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Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 61, was arrested on felony expenses of gross little one neglect. (West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority)
“If there was a medical emergency or hearth, the youngsters can be unable to exit the locked room to security,” the felony criticism states.
One other small little one was discovered locked inside the home. Deputies discovered the kid in “an unprotected loft, roughly 15 ft excessive,” the sheriff’s workplace stated.
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No dad and mom or guardians had been situated on the scene when deputies arrived. Nevertheless, the adoptive dad and mom, Donald Ray Lantz, 63, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 61, arrived on the scene later that night time.
Whitefeather reportedly admitted to deputies that the youngsters had been left within the shed and allegedly stated “they prefer it.”
Lantz and Whitefeather had been subsequently arrested on felony expenses of gross neglect creating a considerable danger of damage. Bonds for the pair had been set at $200,000 money. A preliminary listening to date has been set for the couple on Oct. 12, WSAZ reported.
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The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Workplace Felony Investigative Part is investigating the case together with Youngster Protecting Companies.
The sheriff’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for extra remark.
Chris Pandolfo is a author for Fox Information Digital. Ship tricks to chris.pandolfo@fox.com and observe him on Twitter @ChrisCPandolfo.
West Virginia man, girl arrested after teenagers discovered locked in shed
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