On Friday, April 4, 2025, residents of a neighborhood in Deltona, Florida, noticed a young girl and a dog wandering around the area. Officers later learned that the 6-year-old girl ended up in the residential area because her mom, who is unhoused, had “dropped her off” there and allegedly abandoned her. The mom reportedly did not tell her 6-year-old daughter whether she planned on coming back. Based on the officers’ conversation with the young girl, they also learned that the child had never been to school before, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.
In a news release, the sheriff’s office said a woman found the 6-year-old girl and her dog “wandering in her front yard” and then “found her sitting in a chair in her carport.”
The woman and one of her neighbors tried to help the girl by bringing her “food, water, toys and clean clothes” after learning that she was “hot, thirsty, and hungry.”
The sheriff’s office shared a video in which officers asked the child questions about what had happened. In the video, the girl said that her mom and her mom’s boyfriend had “dropped her off” because “they had to go somewhere.”
When an officer asked her about school, the girl said she would be homeschooled. Through their investigation, officers also learned that the mom and her young child were homeless. The young child was accompanied by her dog, named Ghost.
According to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, Deltona Fire Rescue checked the girl’s vitals before she was taken to the Volusia Family Resource Center. Staff at the VFRC contacted the girl’s grandparents.
Later, the Deltona Crime Suppression Team identified and located the mom and her boyfriend. The mom and her boyfriend were arrested “on charges of desertion of a child and abandonment of an animal.”
