3 Children Abandoned in Houston Apartment For Months With Sibling’s Skeletal Remains

Harris County Sheriff deputies made a disturbing discovery on Sunday when they found three children abandoned in an apartment along with skeletal remains.

Late Sunday afternoon, authorities say they received a call from a 15-year-old boy who told them that his 9-year-old brother has been dead for a year in a room located next to his in the apartment. He also told police that he's been living alone in the apartment with two additional younger siblings (10 and 7) "for several months."

When deputies arrived to the third-floor apartment, they found the three children alone along with the skeletal remains as described by the teenager. According to KHOU, the remains were "consistent" with the age given by the 15-year-old sibling.

West Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says the two younger siblings who were found alive "appeared malnourished and showed signs of physical injury." All three siblings were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

KHOU says the mother of the children has been located along with her boyfriend and they are both being interviewed by homicide investigators. Sheriff Gonzalez says he hopes a thorough investigation will get answers for the children.

In our experience, it's always best to not speculate and just let the investigation take its course, but a very disturbing set of circumstances, so we definitely want some answers for these children.

Neighbors had no clue what was going on right next door to them in the Houston-area apartment complex and were "devastated" to hear the news. One mother said she could never imagine her children being abandoned anywhere let alone leaving a dead child to decay in the same home of their siblings.

I have a 21-year-old and an 11-year-old and I can never imagine leaving them abandoned anywhere.

A rep for the apartment complex declined to comment to reporters on the scene.

According to KHOU, a medical examiner will determine the cause of death of the deceased child as the active investigation continues.