Starving 8-year-old girl jumps from window holding teddy, begs strangers for food

[Kamaji]

Starving 8-year-old girl jumps from window holding teddy, begs strangers for food

By Emily Crane
July 24, 2023

An 8-year-old girl who was allegedly starved by her parents jumped out a second-story window clutching her teddy bear — and then begged strangers for food, authorities said.

The little girl’s parents, Ryan Keith Hardman and Ellio M. Hardman, both 33, were slapped with neglect of a child charges after their daughter escaped their home in Arnoldsburg, West Virginia, earlier this month, WOWK reported.

The child, who was barefoot at the time, had walked into a nearby Family Dollar at 10:30 p.m. July 7 and told employees she hadn’t eaten in several days, according to a criminal complaint.

“The little girl, she came through the store, just walked up to us … And said, ‘I’m hungry. My mom and dad don’t want me no more. Do you have anything I can eat?,’” said Kelly Hutchinson, a Family Dollar employee.

The girl said the last thing she had eaten was a sandwich that had been given to her by a sibling three days earlier, according to the complaint.

*  *  *

Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/07/24/starving-8-year-old-girl-jumps-from-window-holding-teddy-begs-strangers-for-food/

[Kamaji]

What is going on with these parents?  There have been a number of recent reports of similar abuse of children.

[sneakypete]

Kinda takes your breath away,doesn't it?

[jafo2010]

We delude ourselves that we as a nation care for children.  If we are not killing them in the womb, before they had one day separated from their mother, we are abusing them from birth.  The real question, how many children are out there just like this girl, and no one knows what they are suffering with, and how many children die from treatment like this child and just disappear?  I don't think we have a clue as a nation.