Five kids and six dogs were left to their own devices after being abandoned by their parents at a gas station in York in the middle of the night.
They were traveling with 4 adults (their parents), who were later pulled over for speeding at a traffic stop on Interstate-80.
The adults were found to be in the possession of methamphetamine and syringes used to inject the same.
As per court documents, the adults – Irene Lira, Michael Fortner, Pablo Recio Sr. and Kristin Learned, all hail from California.
The driver, Michael, had no identification and claimed that his license was suspended. They have all been arrested and charged with multiple felonies related to drugs and child abuse.
The York Police Department found the children, aged 17, 16, and 12 years, and 7 and 3 months, 2 days after the arrest of their parents.
The poor things had slept a night at the gas station beside their dogs, before checking into a hotel with the help of an adult.
The hotel staff claimed that they did not receive any payment for the room, but they still allowed the kids and the dogs to take shelter for the night.
By the time the cops located the children, they were extremely troubled. The hotel room had also been filled with dog feces and urine.
The older children had somehow arranged food and provisions for the younger ones, but were unable to care for the dogs.
They explained they were traveling to Minnesota to attend a wedding with their parents, before they were unceremoniously stranded at the gas station.
The deputy who arrested the parents said that the 4 adults were under the influence of some substance at that time, and had failed to reveal anything about their unsupervised children and dogs. Their scheduled date of arraignment has been postponed for now.
h/t The Grand Island Independent
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