I watch Oprah when she is not 'telling us how to live' a more opulent life. Yesterday's story on Danielle the feral child found in Florida made me do some research this morning.
Part One: The Feral Child
A little girl, pale, with dark eyes, lifted a dirty blanket above the broken glass and peered out, one neighbor remembered.
Everyone knew a woman lived in the house with her boyfriend and two adult sons. But they had never seen a child there, had never noticed anyone playing in the overgrown yard.
The girl looked young, 5 or 6, and thin. Too thin. Her cheeks seemed sunken; her eyes were lost.
The child stared into the square of sunlight, then slipped away.
Months went by. The face never reappeared.
Just before noon on July 13, 2005, a Plant City police car pulled up outside that shattered window. Two officers went into the house — and one stumbled back out.
Clutching his stomach, the rookie retched in the weeds.
Plant City Detective Mark Holste had been on the force for 18 years when he and his young partner were sent to the house on Old Sydney Road to stand by during a child abuse investigation. Someone had finally called the police.
They found a car parked outside. The driver's door was open and a woman was slumped over in her seat, sobbing. She was an investigator for the Florida Department of Children and Families.
"Unbelievable," she told Holste. "The worst I've ever seen."
Rest of the article here:
http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article750838.ece
For those with speakers:
http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2008/reports/danielle/
And here I add, THANK HEAVENS for her adoptive parents, the folks who found her, who reported the neglect, therapists, doctors and other support personnel and the authors of this article. There are many children, let alone other people out there who have fallen 'out of view' in society. Just think about that as you go about your day.
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