Couple suspected of child abandonment
Sheriff says pack and play was converted into a cage
By News Channel Nebraska
SIDNEY, IA – A Shenandoah couple is suspected of child abandonment after deputies found a four-year-old outside a Washington Street residence in Hamburg on July 25.
A sheriff’s office press release says the child, with reported developmental disabilities, was covered in filth and a mixture of both human and animal feces. Another child was found inside the residence.
Deputies suspect that 26-year-old parents Dustin Perry and Lindsey Hamilton left the children in the care of relatives with directions to keep the four-year-old in a makeshift cage.
The cage was constructed of a pack and play, a baby gate roof and zip ties. It was located inside the residence, along with a walk-in closet with a second homemade cage apparatus.
Several children were removed from the home by social services.
The sheriff’s office also reports several drug enforcement arrests through July 23 including 44-year-old Sara Johnson of Pacific Junction, transient Alicia Fenner, 34, Julie Rainey, 54, of Nebraska City, Michael Henderson, 58, of Auburn and Cara Ingram, 40, of Tucson, Ariz.