[CrimsonTide4]

JACKSONVILLE,Florida

A 2-year-old girl left home alone for 2 1/2
weeks while her mother was in jail has been released from the hospital
after being treated for malnutrition and dehydration, officials said
Wednesday


The child, who survived by eating ketchup, mustard and dried pasta, was
released late Tuesday from Wolfson Children's Hospital to the custody of
the state Department of Children & Families.


"The only thing I can tell you is that she is in good condition,"
hospital spokesman David Foreman said.


The little girl had been left alone since her mother, Dakeysha Telita
Lee, was jailed September 10 for aggravated assault and petty theft,
police said. The mother was charged Monday with child abuse, and was
being held Tuesday on $20,000 bond.


The child's father, Ogden Lee, who is separated from the 22-year-old
mother, said he had been trying to contact her for two weeks and did not
learn until Sunday night that she was in jail.


When a manager let him into the apartment, the youngster was lying nude
in a baby's bathtub, covered with a towel and was watching a TV cartoon
channel. She was filthy and covered with dry ketchup and jelly, Sheriff
John Rutherford said Tuesday.