2-Month-Old Among 6 Children Found Locked Inside Milwaukee Storage Unit as 2 Are Arrested By Gabrielle Rockson 96

Six children, including a two-month-old baby, have reportedly been found locked inside a Milwaukee storage unit.

On Tuesday, Sept. 16, the children were discovered inside the container at around 1:36 a.m., according to ABC News.

Authorities received an alert of children being trapped inside before they arrived at the StorSafe storage facility near 27th and Silver Spring, ABC News and Fox 6 reported.

Milwaukee Police Department told ABC News that the eldest child was 9-years-old and the others were 7, 5, 3, 2, and 2 months.

Officials initially thought there were only two children inside the storage, according to dispatch audio obtained by ABC News.

The locker was opened after fire crews were called for assistance. No one was reportedly harmed.

PEOPLE has contacted the Milwaukee Police Department, the Milwaukee County District Attorney, the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services, and StorFace Storage for comment, but did not immediately hear back.

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Authorities have arrested two people, a 26-year-old woman and a 33-year-old man.

A spokesperson from the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office told local newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that they will review charges as the investigation remains ongoing.

A woman in the area told TMJ4 that she has frequently seen a family with children leaving the storage in the morning and returning at night.

However, another witness, called Mac, who also uses the storage facilities, said they had “never seen kids walking around here, no. Not at all.” 

Other residents in the neighborhood have expressed their bewilderment over the incident.

“I’m confused. I don’t even know how to respond to it,” a man told ABC News affiliate WISN. “To me, this sounds like a cry for help, maybe they just needed help and didn’t know how to get it.”

Meanwhile, local resident, Tonya Lowe, told WITI that she had noticed children at the site in recent days and said the storage unit discovery shook her.

“It touched my heart. I had to come out. I could not believe it,” Lowe told the TV station. “We have failed these kids. We don’t need to be cruel and treat our kids like animals and lock them in places they don’t deserve to be put in.”

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.