4-Year-Old Found on the Street Escaped 'Makeshift' Cage Made of Portable Crib and Zip Ties: Police

Lindsey Barbara Marie Hamilton and Dustin Carl Lee Perry were arrested after their child, who has developmental disabilities, was found on the street, police allege

Authorities in Iowa have arrested a couple after one of their children was found on the street covered in fecal matter, leading officers to discover a makeshift cage from which the child had allegedly escaped.

Police arrested Dustin Carl Lee Perry and Lindsey Barbara Marie Hamilton, both 26, and charged them both with neglect or abandonment of a dependent and child endangerment, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release last week.

Fremont police received a report of a small child alone on a street in Hamburg, Iowa, on Thursday, July 25, police said in the release.

The child, who police say has developmental disabilities, was found “covered in filth and a mixture of both human and animal feces outside the residence."

Inside the residence, police found another child as well.

The couple allegedly left the children in their relatives’ care with the instruction to hold the child in a “makeshift cage,” authorities said.

The “cage” was made out of a portable crib, a baby gate roof and zip ties, Fremont police alleged.

The child managed to “escape from the device” and leave the residence without waking up anyone, police alleged.

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Other children were also located and removed from the residence, according to authorities, who did not provide further information about them.

Officers found a second “homemade cage” in another home in Shenandoah, Iowa, where the child was allegedly held inside a walk-in closet, the statement claims.

Perry and Hamilton, both of Shenandoah, Iowa, are being held without bond, per authorities, who say they anticipate more charges in the case.

Online court information did not show plea or attorney information for the couple.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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