Police in Houston made a sad and mind-boggling discovery this week. Three children were found living alone in an apartment, along with the decomposing remains of their 9-year-old brother. Police said that the skeletal remains had been there for a lengthy period of time.
The gruesome discovery was made on Sunday at an apartment on Green Crest Drive. It happened after one of the siblings, a teen boy, called 911. He said that his brother had been dead in the apartment for a year.
The operator must've been baffled, but when police arrived on the scene, they found that the teen was, in fact, telling the truth.
Three children — ages 15, 10, and 7 — were living in the apartment. The kids were all malnourished and showed signs of physical injury, police said. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the children had been abandoned by their parents.
It is believed that the children had been living there alone for months without supervision. "Our hearts break for those three … I mean, they're still children. And for the one that has passed away," the sheriff said.
Authorities are trying to figure out why it took so long for the children to call 911. "It appears the skeletal remains have been there for an extended period of time," the sheriff added. "Connecting all the dots at this point it seems they were in there while the body was deteriorating."
Of course, the kids were likely scared or traumatized, but police say they also may not have had access to a phone.
The children were all taken to a hospital and treated. Still, so many questions remain about how this horrifying situation came about in the first place.
The mother of the children was located later that same night and questioned before being released. No charges against her were filed at the time.
"CPS is assisting with the children," Sheriff Gonzalez tweeted on. "Our investigation remains on-going."
