Indiana police arrested nine people last Wednesday at a home in Pulaski County after they discovered a three-year-old girl being kept inside a plywood box in the living room.
According to the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, police executed a search warrant on Dec. 14 after they received a tip regarding a possible case of child abuse and neglect at a home in North Judson, Ind.
According to a police press release, the tip involved information that a child was being kept inside a wooden box in the home, and that she was “locked in the box during the evening and for extended periods of time.”
“During the execution of this search warrant a three-year-old female was located inside of a plywood box found in the living room of the residence,” police said.
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Sheriff Jeffrey Richwine told local media it was one of the most disturbing cases of child neglect he has seen.
“It’s one of those deals, you go there and think, ‘hopefully this is not true.’ And you go there, when they say it, you just don’t believe it, you’re thinking, ‘my God, who would do this?'” Richwine told WNDU News.
The little girl, whose name is being withheld, was taken into the custody of Pulaski County Department of Child Services. A spokesperson for the organization told WNDU that they are attempting to locate a relative of the girl’s to care for her, before considering a foster home.
Police arrested a total of nine people: three, including the girl’s father and stepmother, were charged with neglect of a dependent. The remaining six were charged with failure to report child abuse.
“Nobody spoke up about a little girl in the box. Even as we were taking them out of the house, no one spoke up and said, ‘Hey, there’s a little girl over here in the box,’” Richwine told WLFI News.