Two Iowa parents instructed a relative caring for their developmentally disabled 4-year-old son to keep him in a makeshift cage after police found him outside the home covered in human and animal waste, authorities said.
Dustin Carl Lee Perry and Lindsay Barbara Marie Hamilton, both 26, were arrested Thursday after their bodies were found covered in feces outside their home in the northern Missouri city of Hamburg, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.
Police said the boy and another child found inside the home were taken to a nearby hospital for examination.
According to the release, Perry and Hamilton allegedly placed the children with relatives “with instructions to keep the 4-year-old in a makeshift cage.”
Police said they found two makeshift cages inside the home, including one made from “a baby bed, a baby gate roof and zip ties.”
Police said one of the cages was found inside a walk-in closet.
Authorities said the horrific situation came to light when the 4-year-old boy escaped from the makeshift enclosure without waking anyone else in the home and made it outside where he was found by police.
Perry and Hamilton were arrested and charged with child neglect and child endangerment.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services removed several children from the home, according to the release.
The parents are being held without bail while awaiting their initial appearance before a judge.
