Children rescued from filthy conditions in Kelso home
KELSO, Wash. – When police officer Sarah Hoffman arrived at a Kelso home, she had no idea what horrors she would find inside.
She was checking on a domestic dispute. When she entered the home, Hoffman said she saw a woman who was clearly drunk, and two children – ages two and seven – who were living in filth.
Those children are now in protective custody.
“I was sick to my stomach watching [the girl] walk from the bedroom through the feces and throughout the house in bare feet,” Hoffman wrote in her police report.
The children’s father, Danny Wannamaker, called police after getting in a fight with their mother, Nicole Jacobs, police said. Wannamaker was arrested and charged with assault.
Neither parent has been charged with additional crimes at this time, pending an investigation by Child Protective Services.
Hoffman said she was overwhelmed by the odor of human waste.
“I opened the bathroom door and was so sickened by what I saw,” she said. “There were days, perhaps weeks worth of feces in the bathtub. The toilet was clogged and filled with feces.”
- Photos of the bathroom (Warning: graphic content)
The rest of the house was littered with dirty clothes, toys dishes and silverware caked with food.
The 7-year-old boy was sleeping in a recliner. He had no bed.
“I’ve been to many filthy houses since becoming a police officer and this is one of the most disgusting residences I have ever been in,” Hoffman said.
When the children were taken by Child Protective Services, there weren’t any clean clothes in the house for them to wear.
Neighbors were shocked when they heard about the deplorable conditions. They said this house was on their radar, however, because there were a lot of visitors who stopped by during the nights.
“When you have feces running all over the house basically, and the kids running around in that, that’s pretty disgusting,” said neighbor Shawna Spear.
Holy poopstorm and filth-factory! I can never, ever understand the  mentality  that goes into the making of overflowing  weeks/months worth of feces & urine in toilets and  bathtubs, but I have heard of this  apparently not uncommon phenomenon from a former neighbor who was a plumber. He told me about  really shocking stories of people like this. It is beyond unbelievable! If they don't have functional plumbing then why not dig a hole in the yard or something???? How does one live in one's own waste??  Animals never do that if they are living freely.  Geeeeez. Horrible.
makes me very sad...for the children. two parents in the home and so their should be no darn reason for this to have happened.. make the parents do parenting classes...I mean come on!!!
âWhen you have feces running all over the house basically, and the kids running around in that, thatâs pretty disgusting,â said neighbor.
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Can't say I've ever heard of feces "running", but we get the idea.
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Makes me wonder just how much this is happening elsewhere. When someone is responsible for the raising of one or more children, it makes me think that at some point individual rights of the "parent" should be limited in favor of the rights of the child to a clean, safe environment every time.
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It also angers me that there are so many living children who need good homes yet all the ballyhoo is made over abortion, just because it's easy to take a stand on something intangible, whereas taking a stand for an existing problem actually costs time and money.
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I don't believe in abortion as a method of birth control, but until the kids who are alive are taken care of first, the rest is irrelevant.
 @Mikey I agree with your bottom line, Mikey. Well put.
Ok didn't watch the video. The mom was drunk. That says it all. Stupid drunk people. Sheesh!
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Oh and did they get their power shut off because they could not afford to pay the bills? Were there illegal drugs in the house? There needs to be more to this story, but this is KATU so this is what we get.Â
 @Just Me Well thats all the police I guess want to report at this time.  Why, did you used to buy drugs from them?  Don't want to get caught?  What I see is enough for me, tweeker.
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 @Just Me Why did we need more?  Drunk people may still pay bills.  Why do we need drugs?  Why did it have to more horrible for you than this? Â
Ok. so lets reason here. I see toys, lots of toys. I see clutter and lots of it. Were the kids being fed? Bathed? Changed? Because, since when is it against the law to be messy.????Â
 @Just Me Looking at the photo, I'd have agreed with you. As an apartment manager, I've seen a lot worse, and this wouldn't even have made me give a housekeeping notice. But obviously you didn't bother to read the story. The tub was filled with feces, as was the toilet. Perhaps your gag reflex is just not working well. I don't need more than those words, to get the point and to know that at least one of your questions was answered. NO one was being bathed. <shudder>
 @Just Me Besides which, what looks like clutter includes feces. Maybe you need to look up that word.
 @Just Me You are kidding, right!  Were they being fed?  Did you see the kitchen counters and stovetop??  how would you be able to prepare food in that disgust?  changed??  The article said there were no clean clothes for them to wear and the mother couldn't find shoes.  Bathed???  In a bathtub full of crap???  This was way beyond messy and yes, in my opinion it was criminal. Â
 @Just MeÂ
 @Just Me How can you reason with a tubful of feces?
Sometimes being "reasonable" is an simply excuse to not be "responsible".
 @Just Me if you actually can read, the statements were - kids were walking barefoot through rooms with feces all over.  Food and dishes on the floor, Sorry, that is not Messy.  That is beyond Messy.  If you are so sympathetic with the parents, go clean the place.  I would not want kids left in that environment either.
 @Just Me Messy is one thing, but this sounds like a health hazard.  I'm not the neatest person, but i've never left feces on the floor, in bathtub, or anywhere except the toilet! Gross
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 @tweety114  @Just Me Except a FLUSHING toilet, you mean!
Some people should not be allowed to have children!
 @jpk Most people.
No, Mikey, just some people. I just got back from visiting my newest great-grandson and his mom in the hospital, he's two days old. I know he will never face that situation! I just shudder to think of all the kids that do have to face these kinds of situations. What will they grow up to be, if they do grow up? This place was disgusting, not just messy!
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I wouldn't let an animal in those conditions let alone two little kids. These people must be sub human.
But I'll bet their immune systems are rock solid!
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 @negativerep I bet they actually need to have full health exams and some treatments with antibiotics after that exposure.
@negativerep "We were tempered in raw shlt" ... thank you George Carlin.
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Thank goodness those kids are out of there and their immune systems can take a break. Until the cops showed up, that was the only thing protecting these little ones.
I think that last sentence pretty much sums up the whole situation. Just nasty!