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Investigators say they are probing why two children were living in a broken-down school bus parked in a garbage-strewn property in Splendora, Texas.
Jamie Nash of Montgomery County's Precinct 4 Constable's Office said a postal worker Wednesday discovered a girl, 11, and her brother, 5, who "appeared to be unsupervised," KTRK-TV, Houston, reported.
"Everyone who was on the scene talked about the odor -- there was a lot of trash on the property," Nash said.
The children's situation was passed from the postal worker to a justice of the peace to Precinct 4 Constable Rowdy Hayden, who personally checked out the scene to find a woman on the heavily wooded property dotted with bicycles and toys.
Hayden said he believed the woman was the great-aunt of the children. She said although she worked a 12-hour shift Monday through Friday, she lived in the bus at night, KTRK-TV said.
The bus had an air conditioning unit and was rigged with electricity, but it did not constitute a proper environment for the children, Hayden said, even though it was their home since 2009 when their parents, Mark and Sherrie Shorten, were imprisoned for fraud bilking Hurricane Ike victims in 2008.
"Where I think it crosses the line is the living environment. The kids were obviously physically unkempt," Hayden said.
"The aunt said that she does provide meals for them during the day," Hayden said. "Looking around the house, we didn't see a lot of food readily available. One of the neighbors had told us earlier that from time to time she will bring food over for the children."
Child Protective Services went to court Thursday to obtain an emergency removal order to take custody of the children. A hearing will be held in two weeks to ascertain whether there are any appropriate relatives with whom the children might stay, KRIV-TV, Houston, reported.
"Our investigation has just started," explained CPS spokesperson Gwen Carter. "We are trying to make sure the kids are safe and trying to understand what family members there are in the community who they know, and what's going on with the family."
Jamie Nash of Montgomery County's Precinct 4 Constable's Office said a postal worker Wednesday discovered a girl, 11, and her brother, 5, who "appeared to be unsupervised," KTRK-TV, Houston, reported.
"Everyone who was on the scene talked about the odor -- there was a lot of trash on the property," Nash said.
The children's situation was passed from the postal worker to a justice of the peace to Precinct 4 Constable Rowdy Hayden, who personally checked out the scene to find a woman on the heavily wooded property dotted with bicycles and toys.
Hayden said he believed the woman was the great-aunt of the children. She said although she worked a 12-hour shift Monday through Friday, she lived in the bus at night, KTRK-TV said.
The bus had an air conditioning unit and was rigged with electricity, but it did not constitute a proper environment for the children, Hayden said, even though it was their home since 2009 when their parents, Mark and Sherrie Shorten, were imprisoned for fraud bilking Hurricane Ike victims in 2008.
"Where I think it crosses the line is the living environment. The kids were obviously physically unkempt," Hayden said.
"The aunt said that she does provide meals for them during the day," Hayden said. "Looking around the house, we didn't see a lot of food readily available. One of the neighbors had told us earlier that from time to time she will bring food over for the children."
Child Protective Services went to court Thursday to obtain an emergency removal order to take custody of the children. A hearing will be held in two weeks to ascertain whether there are any appropriate relatives with whom the children might stay, KRIV-TV, Houston, reported.
"Our investigation has just started," explained CPS spokesperson Gwen Carter. "We are trying to make sure the kids are safe and trying to understand what family members there are in the community who they know, and what's going on with the family."