KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Department of Social Services released extensive records Thursday on the case of a 10-year-old girl found starving in a closet last summer.
The child is known only by her initials, L.P.
When she was found, she weighed just 32 pounds, less than half the average weight for a girl her age. She was so small, she fit into toddler-size clothing, authorities said in July.
According to court documents, the girl was not allowed to use the toilet and had lived in her own waste since 2007. Neighbors of the family said they had never seen the 10-year-old girl, although they saw other children in the family.
Earlier records from Jackson County showed L.P. was taken from her mother, Jacole Prince, when she was four-years old.
Jacole Prince is awaiting trial on charges of child abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.
The mother’s boyfriend was charged with two counts child endangerment.
FOX 4’s Rob Low is among the FOX 4 reporters looking through the records to see what history, if any, state social workers had with the girl’s family.
We now know L.P. gained 11 pounds in less than two weeks after being taken to Children’s Mercy Hospital.
