WOOD HEIGHT, Mo. — Investigators in the small Missouri town of Wood Heights say that they may have walked into the filthiest houses they have ever seen, and now police say that the people responsible can’t be found.
Authorities serving a foreclosure eviction on the home just east of Excelsior Springs say that the place was filled with abandoned pets, and nearly every inch of the floor was covered with animal feces and trash.
“There’s no clean spot in this house. There’s nothing, there’s nothing that’s liveable,” said Kristina Baxter of the Excelsior Springs Animal Control. “There’s no place to sit, there’s no place to sleep, and these people just moved out last night and that’s what really floors me.”
According to authorities, Patricia Kelly, 48, and her son, 22-year-old Josh Kelly, left the home just ahead of Friday morning’s eviction.
“I understand that one of our maintaince men last night chased them down the street to find out where they were going,” said Wood Height Mayor John Allen, who says that catching all of the animals roaming the home wasn’t easy. “One was in a dresser drawer, I don’t know where the other one was but the dogs were laying around. One was on the couch like it’s pretty sick.”
There was a notice attached to the front door of the home which read, “8 dogs need homes plus 4 cats. Now homeless, can’t take.”
“This is about as bad as anything I’ve seen in the films or on television,” said Marilyn Hughes of Excelsior Springs Friends of Animals.
Despite the massive amount of feces in the house, investigators say that they didn’t find any food, and it looks like many of the animals had been fed in days.
“I don’t think they’ve been fed,” said Hughes. “They look thin, and they look like they’re in bad shape.”
The house has electricity, but the water had been turned off nearly three weeks ago. Police say that if Kelly and her son are ever found, they will face charges of animal neglect and cruelty.
“I’m disgusted, I really am,” said Baxter. “I feel bad that anything could’ve lived in this environment.”
