A 6-year-old girl told deputies she was left with her dog by the roadside while her parents went to charge their phones, prompting a child welfare investigation in Florida.
The discovery came Friday afternoon when a woman near Vann Park noticed the child and her dog wandering around her yard. Later, she found them sitting in a chair in her carport. Concerned, she called the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office around 4:30 p.m.
According to Fox affiliate WOFL, the girl told the woman she was “hot, thirsty, and hungry,” but couldn’t share many details about her identity or where she came from.
The woman and a neighbor gave her food, water, toys, and clean underwear, as she reportedly had none on, CBS affiliate WKMG reported.
Deputies noted that the child was carrying a small backpack with a blanket, a marker, a Medicaid card, a toilet bowl cleaner she used as a brush, and a black dog tag tied to her dress. Deltona Fire Rescue evaluated her and found her to be in good health, though much remained unclear.
Police released bodycam footage of the interaction between the girl and the deputies, which shows officers gently trying to piece together her story.
When asked if she knew her mother’s name, the girl answered, “Aquania.” She wasn’t sure where she lived and said she was dropped off that morning. “Mommy and daddy needed to go charge their cell phones,” she told deputies, according to the arrest affidavit.
The girl also revealed that she wasn’t enrolled in school and that her family was homeless. The affidavit detailed how she described her home as leaky when it rained and said she was often allowed to walk to stores alone.
She was taken to the Volusia Family Resource Center, where her grandparents later agreed to take her in. The dog was transferred to Deltona Animal Control.
Over eight hours after the initial report, deputies located the girl’s mother and her boyfriend around 1 a.m. on Saturday.
In bodycam footage obtained by Law & Crime, a deputy can be heard confronting them: “You leave your kid on the side of the f–king road?”
Aquania Estes, 27, told deputies they were homeless and living in the woods. She claimed her daughter wandered off from where they were staying while she was out trying to get food and water. Police later found two tents in the forest, confirming the family’s living situation.
Estes and her boyfriend, 29-year-old Pitrez Floyd, were arrested and charged with child desertion and animal abandonment. Both remain in custody, each held on $51,000 bond.
