Yet another messed up mom story.

[cashmoney]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3155078.stm

[OrigamiTulip]

The more of these stories I read, the more I think people should have to get a license to be parents....

[Jill1228]

US toddler's 'home alone' ordeal
A two-year-old girl in Florida has survived nearly three weeks alone in her apartment, living on a diet of mustard, dried pasta and tomato sauce.
Briana Lee was abandoned when her mother was jailed on 10 September, but did not tell police about her daughter.

The girl's plight was only discovered when her father, after failing to make contact with his estranged wife for some time, went to the apartment.

She was found in a filthy state, lying naked in a baby's bath, watching TV.

Neighbourhood search

Briana's father, Ogden Lee, told the Florida Times-Union newspaper that he had been trying to get in touch with the mother Dakeysha Telita Lee, 20, for a fortnight - unaware that she was in fact in custody.


She grabbed me and wouldn't let go of me
Ogden Lee, Briana's father
Dakeysha Lee had been detained on charges of battery and theft earlier in the month.

When Mr Lee eventually traced the mother to the prison and was able to speak to her, Dakeysha Lee said that the child was in the care of neighbours.

Mr Lee went to the apartment block and after knocking on the doors of several neighbours was still unable to find Briana, so he got the building's manager to let him into the flat.

Indomitable spirit

The infant was lying naked in a baby bath tub in the mother's bedroom covered in dirt and dried ketchup, draped in a towel, watching cartoons on the television.


"She grabbed me and wouldn't let go of me," Mr Lee told the newspaper.

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokesman Ken Jefferson said Briana had scavenged in the kitchen for food to survive, dragging it into the bedroom.

"She had subsisted on mustard, ketchup, dried pasta. She cleared out the lower cabinets looking for food as well as the refrigerator.

"She managed to stay alive for 19 days. She's quite a scrapper," Sheriff John Rutherford said.

Along with food, Briana had taken a supply of toys and other belongings to the bed.

"Everything was on the bed in the bedroom. Obviously she had found other things than the ketchup to eat," her father was quoted as saying.

Remarkably healthy

Police said there was no sign that the child had been visited by anyone else in the time.


She's sitting up in the bed and laughing and playing with the nurses
David Foremane, Wolfson Children's Hospital
Leaford James, a neighbour in the apartment block, said he had heard the girl crying during her time alone, "but nothing to get suspicious about".

Briana is now recovering from the effects of malnutrition and dehydration in Wolfson Children's Hospital.

"She's sitting up in the bed and laughing and playing with the nurses," hospital spokesman David Foreman said.

She remains in the care of social services, who are deciding where she should be placed.

"The child is safe and in our care," Pattie Mallon, an official from Jacksonville's Department of Children and Families said. "We are in awe of her spirit to survive and we are making every effort to ensure her safety and well being."

Briana's ability to survive has astonished her father too. "It really is a miracle how good a shape my daughter is in. I don't know how she did it," he said.

The mother has been charged with child abuse and detained on a $20,000 bail bond for failing to notify the authorities of her daughter's whereabouts.


Story from BBC NEWS:

[rainbowbrightCS]

Wow, that little girl is impressive.

That women should be sterilized!

Christia

[sigmagrrl]

1) It took the father 3 WEEKS to become worried???

2) That neighbor is an idiot.....Didn't he notice anyone coming from or going into the apt?? I swear, why don't we care about our neighbors?

3) NOT that the mother isn't to blame, but has anyone heard her side of the story yet?

[MereMere21]

The woman was arrested at work (she left the baby home when she went to work) and said she didn't tell the police she had a baby at home because she didn't want to get into more trouble.

I also think it is strange that it took the father 3 weeks to become worried - didn't he know when the mother got arrested?

[Jill1228]

Pefect evidence to prove that
1. Youngin's should NOT have kids
2. Stupid people should not BREED

[aephi alum]

That's horrible! How could anyone just leave their baby alone like that? I'm guessing she went to work and just left the baby to fend for herself on a daily basis...

That's one resourceful little kid, though.

[Rio_Kohitsuji]

Well..I hate to say this..but this is nothing. Maybe because my 2 sisters are social workers I see/hear worse. I'm actually surprised the mother had food in the fridge (or whereever the baby found it)

I remember there was a case not to long ago when there was a 6 year old (who looked to be only 1) that basically lived in the closet. His parents would randomly throw in popcorn and he survived on that. When police and my sister came to the house they could hardly touch the child due to when you did touch his skin it would just peel off due to the malnutrition and dehydration.

Once again, I'm all for sterilization legislation!

[lovelyivy84]

That kid is a fighter.

How could that neighbor not do anything? How could that father wait THREE WEEKS?

Jesus. Sterilization sounds like an awesome option for that woman. And the father. And the neighbor.

Didn't this woman have family who knew she was arrested? I bet you we'll see those folks o the news crying their croc tears about how they "didn't know". Didn't want to know is more like it.

Ugh.

[navane]

Uhm...the article states very clearly several times that the father did not wait three weeks to check in, *he had been trying to contact the mother* for several weeks with no success. Why was there no success? *She was in jail*

Read - emphasis added:

"The girl's plight was only discovered when her father, after failing to make contact with his estranged wife for some time, went to the apartment."

and

" Briana's father, Ogden Lee, told the Florida Times-Union newspaper that he had been trying to get in touch with the mother Dakeysha Telita Lee, 20, for a fortnight - unaware that she was in fact in custody."

and

"When Mr Lee eventually traced the mother to the prison and was able to speak to her, Dakeysha Lee said that the child was in the care of neighbours.

Mr Lee went to the apartment block and after knocking on the doors of several neighbours was still unable to find Briana, so he got the building's manager to let him into the flat."

Sounds like a concerned father to me!


.....Kelly

[CatStarESP4]

I read that article and was totally outraged. That little girl is such a trooper. I am amazed that she lived on mustard, dried pasta and tomato sauce for those three weeks. I am shocked that the father and the neighbor didn't react quickly after the mother was arrested. Another argument for parent licenses and sterilization (my dad is in favor of this option).

[bethany1982]

Originally posted by Jill1228
Pefect evidence to prove that
1. Youngin's should NOT have kids
2. Stupid people should not BREED

So true!

[Rudey]

Maybe the court should have given the father full possession of the child.

-Rudey
--Fathers' Rights!!!

[cash78mere]

Originally posted by sigmagrrl


3) NOT that the mother isn't to blame, but has anyone heard her side of the story yet?

honestly--who cares. what excuse could she possibly give for leaving her baby alone for 3 weeks? did she think some magical fairy was going to pop into the house to take care of the girl? she obviously left the little girl alone every day when she went to work...she needs the death penalty in my opinion.

a 2 year old girl would not be as independent as she is if she wasn't left alone every day. most 2 year olds cry for food and can't figure out to get it on their own