3 Kids Abandoned in Filthy, Garbage-Filled Michigan Home for 4 Years, Mom Arrested: Police

A Michigan mother has been arrested after abandoning her three children in “absolute squalor” for years.

Police found a 15-year-old boy and his two sisters, aged 12 and 13 during a welfare check at a home in the 600 block of Lydia Lane in Pontiac on Friday, Feb. 14, the Oakland County sheriff’s office announced in a press release.

“They were wearing soiled clothing, their hair was matted, and their toenails were several inches long, making it difficult to walk,” the sheriff’s office said. “…It appeared the girls had not been outside the home for several years. The boy slept on a mattress on the floor while the girls slept on pizza boxes.”

Per police, their 34-year-old mother was arrested without incident on the same day and is being held at the Oakland County Jail. 

Authorities were called to the residence by the landlord after not seeing the mother since December. The landlord added that the last rent paid at the home was in October 2024. 

Police said they found the home “in deplorable shape” with garbage “piled as high as four feet” in some rooms and “mold and human waste was found throughout, with the toilet overflowing and feces in the bathtub.”

The boy told authorities that he and his sisters had been living alone at the home since 2020 or 2021. The children had not attended school since being abandoned.

“They survived on the prepared food their mother or a stranger would leave on the front porch each week,” the sheriff’s office noted in their statement. “The mother did not leave toilet paper or personal hygiene items. The mother had contact with the boy, but it appeared she had not seen the girls in years.”

The children were transported to a hospital for evaluation before being placed in the custody of a relative via Child Protective Services. The mother told authorities that the children’s father was not in their lives. 

Neighbor Emma Gross told WXYZ-TV Detroit, “Everybody’s upset about this … this is right in our neighborhood, how could something like this happen?”

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard also noted, “Throughout my extensive career in this field, I have never encountered a scenario as dire and prolonged as this one, involving abandonment, neglect, and abuse of the highest order.”

“This situation would be deemed deplorable and intolerable for an animal, and it is utterly unacceptable for three children.”

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The sheriff’s office added in an updated post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Feb. 17, that they are “collecting donations for the three children we recovered over the weekend from a horrendous situation.”