BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – Two people were arrested after a 2-year-old girl was caught on camera wandering alone in the woods, according to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office said a property owner called around 6 a.m. Friday to report that her game trail camera captured footage of a child wandering on the South Side around 3 a.m.
The child was wearing a dress and no shoes, the sheriff’s office said.
“With temperatures in the 40s, this little girl faced potential life-threatening danger at that hour,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
At 7:20 a.m., Haley Peoples reported her 2-year-old daughter had “gotten out of the home” earlier that morning, the sheriff’s office said.
“Haley claimed she found the child outside at 4:15 a.m. but did not contact law enforcement for several hours while deputies were actively searching‚” the sheriff’s office said.
When deputies arrived at Peoples’ residence, the sheriff’s office said they discovered “unsafe living conditions,” including trash, soiled clothing, rotting food, rat droppings and a heavy odor of urine.
EMS requested a medical evaluation of the 2-year-old after she was found “soiled,” the sheriff’s office said, noting Peoples “declined care and refused to change the child’s clothing.”
Deputies detained Peoples and arrested her for abandoning/endangering a child - imminent danger of bodily injury.
The sheriff’s office said the 2-year-old’s grandmother, Rebecca Kelly, returned to the home during the investigation but left after being asked to wait for a supervisor.
Later, deputies learned Kelly went to Harmony Elementary School and attempted to remove the girl’s three other siblings from class before 9 a.m.
“School staff reported she claimed CPS was arriving and told the children not to talk about the early-morning incident, calling it a ‘private family matter,’” the sheriff’s office said.
All four children, who are all under 8 years old, were taken to a hospital for evaluation, the sheriff’s office said.
Kelly was detained at the school and arrested for interference with investigation of abuse/neglect.
Both Peoples and Kelly were booked into the Bexar County jail.
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