An eight-year-old girl was so hungry that she jumped out of a second-story window and walked barefoot through a busy road in the middle of the night to find food at a nearby store, according to a disturbing story in West Virginia.
At around 10:30 pm on July 7, an anonymous 8-year-old boy reportedly I walked into the Family Dollar store in Arnoldsburg, West Virginia, about 90 miles northeast of Charleston, the capital. She wore no shoes or socks, and the girl, who was carrying a teddy bear, told two clerks on the night shift that she had barely eaten in the last three days.
“The little girl walked through the store and walked straight to us and was like, ‘I’m hungry. Mom and Dad don’t want me anymore. Do you have anything to eat?'” one of the employees told reporters. WSAZ-TV.
The attendant gave the girl a few snackWe ate pizza, cereal, candy bars, etc. while waiting for the police. The girl said she intended to walk to her friend’s house after stopping at a store, but she was told by an employee that she could not go because it was “dangerous”.
When the police arrived, the girl could not give her an address, but she knew the street name and gave her a general description of the house. She also revealed that her father was Ryan Keith Hardman and her stepmother Elio M. Hardman, both 33, and said the two were at home when cops arrived. At that time, the girl’s three brothers were also at home.
Two arrested for child neglect in Calhoun Countywww.youtube.com
According to the criminal complaint, the girl told police, “My parents told me she had an attitude, and when they thought she had an attitude, they said she wasn’t good and they didn’t need her.” She claimed that her 12-year-old sister gave her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich during the day on July 6, but that she hadn’t eaten anything else for three days. The sisters seemed to corroborate the story, claiming that an eight-year-old could be subjected to such suffering for up to a week at a time.
The 8-year-old girl also told police she often only had one meal a day and was forced to stay in her room mostly all day. Reports say she is not allowed to go downstairs except to use the restroom. She told police she didn’t want to stay home with her parents.
When police asked her how she got out that night, she replied: reportedly and pointed to the window on the second floor. She claimed she removed the screen, hung from the ledge, and then jumped to the ground. She confirmed to police that she was “painful” when she jumped, and her foot hit part of the air conditioner.
According to the complaint, investigators “found a small hand print on the vinyl siding when a hand slipped out of a second-floor window.” They also found an area of ground that was probably disturbed by the jumping child.
There was plenty of food “for the whole family” in the house. They also allegedly found what they believed to be marijuana and various drug paraphernalia. Mr. and Mrs. Hardman told police that the girl had run away from home before, but she didn’t seem to know she was missing that night, she said.
Ryan Hardman and Elio Hardman have been charged with felony felony child neglect resulting in injury or death, Law&Crime reports. They are each being held at the Central Regional Jail on $100,000 cash-only bail.
All four children are in Child Protective Services. An 8-year-old girl was treated for minor injuries to her leg.
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