ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orange County mother is in jail and facing child neglect charges after the Department of Children and Families said her four small children were left home alone in filthy conditions and with no food.
Tiffany Rundell, 24, was arrested and charged with child neglect on Tuesday.
Deputies were called to Rundell's house on Monday on a suicide call. Instead, when they got there, they found broken windows, dirt and glass on the floor, along with four children, ages 1 to 6, alone.
"She needs to have her kids taken away, because they are sweet little babies. They don't deserve that," said neighbor Susan Woodall. "I've never seen anything this bad before, never."
After police arrived at the house, they said they found Rundell at a friend's house about 30 minutes later. Police said she showed little concern that her children were home alone or that they had no access to food that was safe to eat.
Rundell reportedly told deputies she'd been gone for about 10 minutes, needing a ride to buy baby formula.
Neighbors said Rundell has been a problem for months. Denise Sizemore is one of the neighbors who has seen DCF at Rundell’s home before.
“Something bad is going to happen, and it needs to be stopped,” said Sizemore. “My concern is the kids, not the mother. The kids.”
Some neighbors even started documenting what they saw with statements, videos and pictures.
"Her kids sleep on the floor, you know. She doesn't have no rug in that house," an anonymous neighbor told WFTV.
The conditions were so horrendous that DCF said they put the children in their grandmother's care and said the children cannot come back to Rundell's house.
However, DCF officials said if Rundell bonds out of jail, she could regain custody quickly.
WFTV found out that Rundell has a long history with the agency, including allegations of neglect. DCF told WFTV officials have had to make frequent visits at Rundell's home, but the conditions weren't as bad.
“Neglect is one of the more concerns to work with, especially if it's a dirty home,” said Carrie Hoeppner of DCF. “It can be cleaned up right away.”
Neighbors said they've been calling the police once a week.
"That's horrible. You wouldn't treat your dog like that," said Woodall.
"It's pretty disappointing that it took this long for DCF to do what they had to do to get her out of here and take the kids from her," said one neighbor, who did not want to be identified.
DCF told WFTV that Rundell has already stated she will work with them when she gets out of jail. She remains in the Orange County jail and has not posted her $1,000 bond.
WFTV
