OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – Three Oakland County kids didn’t attend school for years after they were abandoned by their mother and left to live alone, officials said.
The children, a 15-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl, and a 12-year-old girl, were abandoned by their mother sometime in the spring or summer of 2020, Oakland County Sheriff Bouchard said during a press conference on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025.
Deputies found them living in “absolute squalor” after the landlord had called for a welfare check when he hadn’t heard from their mother for months.
During their yearslong abandonment, the kids didn’t leave the house, which has some wondering why no one questioned it when the children stopped showing up to school.
Bouchard said that this happening during the COVID-19 pandemic played a bit of a part when it came down to school communications, but said that a gap in the state’s school code was what allowed for this to happen.
In this case, no one ever knew the kids were missing because of a school transfer that never happened.
One school allegedly received a request for records from another Pontiac school, but never verified that the information was obtained.
So, when the children didn’t show up to the school they had been at, they were dropped off the enrollment list since another school had requested their transcripts.
In response, Bouchard said he is proposing legislation to the school code so that something like this doesn’t happen again.
The legislation would require that before a child is unenrolled, the school would need to obtain written confirmation that the child is attending another school. If that confirmation isn’t received within 10 school days, the sending school would need to try and contact the parent or legal guardian to verify their educational status.
Read -- Sheriff: How nobody knew 3 abandoned kids were living alone in Oakland County for years
How to help the kids
Bouchard said they received “bags and bags” of clothing for the children, so now they are pivoting to gather financial support for them.
“We appreciate the community’s response in supporting the three neglected Pontiac children,” the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post. “At this juncture, we have sufficient clothing donations and are shifting our focus to accept donations for educational supplies and to allocate resources for their future well-being. We are accepting donations to a tax-deductible qualified fund, with 100% of the contributions going directly to the children."
Bouchard reiterated that 100% of the funding will go to the kids, and said his office is looking for a law firm to help set up a trust fund for them.
You can watch the full press conference below:
What we know
Deputies performed a welfare check at the home in the 600 block of Lydia Lane in the afternoon on Friday, Feb. 14, after the landlord called them.
The landlord told them he hadn’t heard from the mother since December, and rent hadn’t been paid since October. He was concerned that something could have happened.
When they arrived, they found the home in deplorable condition.
Garbage was piled as high as four feet in some areas and mold and human waste were found throughout the home.
The toilet was overflowing and they found feces in the bathtub, according to the sheriff’s office.
The children were found wearing soiled clothing. Their hair was matted and their nails were several inches long.
Neighbors told authorities they never saw the children outside the house, but would see the mother drop things off.
After their mother was arrested, the three children were put in a relative’s custody by Child Protective Services.
On Monday, Michelle Ratcliff, a neighbor, expressed her outrage over how the children were left to live alone in those horrible conditions for years.
“You just can’t do kids like that,” said Ratcliff. “They can’t fend for themselves.”
Ratcliff said she knows the kids’ grandfather and said it’s sad that nobody checked on them.
