ORLANDO (MN) — A “hungry” child found roaming a Florida residential neighborhood with her dog had been abandoned by her homeless mother, according to investigators.
The girl’s plight was discovered around 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 4, when deputies were summoned to a home near Deltona’s Vann Park, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office said in an April 5 news release. Deltona is about a 30-mile drive north of Orlando.
“A woman saw a 6-year-old child and her dog wandering in her front yard, then found her sitting in a chair in her carport,” the sheriff’s office said.
“The girl said she was hot, thirsty and hungry, so the woman and a neighbor brought her food, water, toys and clean clothes. … Responding deputies learned the girl’s mom and mom’s boyfriend dropped her off in the area in the morning.”
Deltona Fire Rescue responded to the home and concluded the girl was not in need of emergency care, officials said.
An investigation revealed she was homeless, does not attend school and had been “dropped off” that morning at the park by her mom and her mom’s boyfriend, officials said. Her dog’s name is Ghost, the girl told deputies.
The child said her mom explained “they had to go somewhere” and did not say if they would be back, according to a video posted by the sheriff’s office.
“The little girl was taken to the Volusia Family Resource Center (VFRC), where her grandparents were identified and contacted to take custody,” the sheriff’s office said. “The VFRC is a full-scale assessment center that offers high-quality social services to juveniles and their families, and connects them with available resources and assistance.”
Deputies “tracked down” the mom and her boyfriend around 1 a.m. Saturday and arrested them “on charges of desertion of a child and abandonment of an animal,” the sheriff’s office said.
By MARK PRICE/McClatchy News
Mark Price is a National Reporter for McClatchy News. He joined the network of newspapers in 1991 at The Charlotte Observer, covering beats including schools, crime, immigration, LGBTQ issues, homelessness and nonprofits. He graduated from the University of Memphis with majors in journalism and art history, and a minor in geology.
