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UNION, N.J. (AP) After realizing the emaciated child inside was too weak to follow their instructions to get on a chair and reach the chain lock keeping them from getting in, rescue workers simply kicked in the door.
They found the naked, malnourished 4-year-old boy in an overheated apartment where he had been trapped for days with the decomposing body of his mother, a bag of sugar his only source of food. The child weighed only 26 pounds and may have been neglected even before his mother's death, authorities say.
"The only way to describe the little boy was it was like a scene from World War II, from a concentration camp, he was that skinny," Officer Joseph Sauer told The Associated Press. "I mean, you could see all his bones."............
The apartment belongs to Workman's mother, who is recuperating from surgery at a nursing center, said police, who could not track down any other relatives. Adoption offers have poured in from around the world.
Officers were called to the apartment after neighbors complained to the maintenance crew about a terrible stench.
Police quickly pieced together that the boy had been inside the apartment with his mother's body for days. He had put lotion on his mother, police said, leaving behind handprints, in an attempt to help her.
Investigators believe the boy's mother died of natural causes, and do not suspect foul play, as the door was locked from the inside and the windows were secured, Zieser said.
The boy, now in state custody, remained in the hospital where he was being treated for malnourishment and dehydration, police said.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/artic...m-weighed-26-pounds-4390473.php#ixzz2Orex29FJ
They found the naked, malnourished 4-year-old boy in an overheated apartment where he had been trapped for days with the decomposing body of his mother, a bag of sugar his only source of food. The child weighed only 26 pounds and may have been neglected even before his mother's death, authorities say.
"The only way to describe the little boy was it was like a scene from World War II, from a concentration camp, he was that skinny," Officer Joseph Sauer told The Associated Press. "I mean, you could see all his bones."............
The apartment belongs to Workman's mother, who is recuperating from surgery at a nursing center, said police, who could not track down any other relatives. Adoption offers have poured in from around the world.
Officers were called to the apartment after neighbors complained to the maintenance crew about a terrible stench.
Police quickly pieced together that the boy had been inside the apartment with his mother's body for days. He had put lotion on his mother, police said, leaving behind handprints, in an attempt to help her.
Investigators believe the boy's mother died of natural causes, and do not suspect foul play, as the door was locked from the inside and the windows were secured, Zieser said.
The boy, now in state custody, remained in the hospital where he was being treated for malnourishment and dehydration, police said.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/artic...m-weighed-26-pounds-4390473.php#ixzz2Orex29FJ