In a heartrending episode from Sissonville, West Virginia, herculean felony child neglect charges have been cast upon the adoptive parents who allegedly kept two children confined in a barn bereft of any basic amenities. The harrowing tale was brought to the notice of the authorities by a 911 informant, triggering a swift investigation led by the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office.
As the evening shadows deepened on a Monday, just a tick before 6 p.m., a Sheriff’s Deputy rushed to the barn, informed by the distress call earlier. The officer courageously broke her way into the building to find a boy and a girl trapped within the meager confines of a 20-foot by 14-foot room.
The hapless children, suffering in their captivity, were denied even fundamental human needs. Locked away from water, access to a bathroom, food, or even rudimentary items for hygienic care, they lived in a despairing existence. As per the Sheriff’s Office, another young child was discovered, in similar solitariness, at the primary residence.
As the evening wore on, the adoptive parents, identified as Donald Ray Lantz and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, both aged 61, arrived home, only to be immediately arrested. The couple now faces the grave charges of gross felony child neglect.
Enunciated by Sgt. Joshua Lester, the couple is known to have five adopted children, ranging in age from a tender 6 to a still youthful 16. During the arrest, another of their children was discovered in accompaniment of the couple, while one more was found under the care of an unrelated guardian. Temporarily freed from their tragic circumstances, all five children found refuge in the vigilant custody of Child Protective Services.
At present, it is not yet established whether Lantz and Whitefeather have secured legal representation. Meanwhile, they continue to be detained at the South Central Regional Jail, Charleston, West Virginia, each held under a sizeable bond of $200,000.
