And I went out there and sure enough that baby was out there. 20 minutes later, he's inside passed out cuz he's a horrible drunk. And I didn't hear him. And I guess he walked out here. He must have been out here must not been too long because of the fact that I have a dog that's not well. He smells bad. He's got an ear infection. On March 16th, 2025, officers responded to a call about a 2-year-old boy found wandering alone in a Palmco street, leading deputies to a home with deplorable conditions. The Flaggler County Sheriff's Office discovered the residence filled with bugs, feces, urine, and trash described as like a landfill. With the father, who smelled of alcohol unable to account for the child's whereabouts, is reported by a 911 caller who found the toddler. Y'all need to pack that kid. Can you tell me what happened? About 20 minutes before we call, I saw the baby wandering around here. Well, I figured Ross was in his driveway. Okay. You know, I just said, "Oh, Ross was out letting the kid walk around." Well, you know, there's not much traffic. I think this is Sunday. All of a sudden, I see these this car slowing down, stopped, another one. I went, "Oh, God." And I went, "Oh, shit." And I went out there and sure enough, that baby was out there. 20 minutes later, he's inside passed out cuz he's a horrible drunk. That house needs to be condemned. So, the baby was outside for 20 minutes on his own at least. at least 20 minutes, but it probably was longer because that's when you came out. That's when I saw him. Okay. And and then I I you know, I went out back and I talked to the lady. I said, "Y'all need to call the police." I came back in. I called the police. They call the police. A kid should not be allowed to wander a neighborhood. Right. Right. Too many people are talking on the phone and texting and they speed through this neighborhood and he's not I I know y'all can't do anything, but I'm going to find his the mother. Mhm. Her name is uh Have you guys ever Well, we we can always um report this, but have you has anyone ever reported to DCF? Not to my knowledge. Okay. No, he this is the first time anything's happened like this. Okay. I I know he's a drunk driver. Uh I've caught him drunk here sitting in his driveway playing and the baby has been here with him. Okay. Um no, I would call and I'm going to start calling on him every time something happens. I I didn't call but I know he drives drunk. Ma'am, what's your name if you don't mind? so I can add it. You know, he's a bad person. I I'll give you my name, but I wish y'all wouldn't give it to him because No, this isn't for his information. This is for our documentation. Lana, L A N A Mlan. M C L A I N. And I know y'all are going to let him off. I know your hands are tied, but I'm going to find his wife. The mother's the mother is named Katie. I don't know her last name because they were not real. You have ways to find that out. I'm sure there's I know you do. Yeah. And she needs to be aware that Ross let that young wander this neighborhood. She needs to do something about not letting him have that kid. Well, there's probably something going on, but I'm I'm And listen, Ross is full of dookie. He's He'll tell you anything. He lies. He lies. He he's he's he's a he's a gutter drunk. I know my brothers are gutter gutter drunk and and they're just and they're pitiful. They're pitiful, but they can't they can't be left with children, right? Two years. They got in their backyard and you ought to see it. It looks like Did you guys go in the home and find him passed out? Uh that lady over there went over there. Okay. I would have just called y'all and let him sleep. What's um what's your date of birth? 9:26 53. But you promise y'all will y'all this isn't for his this is not for him. This is for our I know. But I mean uh Judy J Katie needs to know. The mother needs to know. Well, he's going to have to know. This isn't something that we're just going to let him off with. This is her child, too. That's right. So, and she thinks she's sending him over here in the baby. Well, yes. Boy, you're fast. I can't even do that. Do you have a middle initial? Me? Yes. The V is in V. V is V. Um, but it's a bad situation. I don't hate Ross, but I see him staggering around in the afternoon drunk. Right. And when a baby hazard his backyard, I thought about going to the fire department and having them come over here and make him cut. You need to walk around and look at that pool. That pool looks like a mud hole there. I hope y'all don't just let it go. I think you need to take the child to these. Well, we can't just take the child. But we have a protocol that we take with these types of situations. DCF has to be notified of anything like this that we're not we're not just going to turn a blind eye and just turn away and give him back. That's not how that happened. This is a chronic that man he he's out his mind. He don't know. He don't know. He knows nothing. He's going to lose everything. All right. Okay. Well, Miss Lena, thank you so much for giving me being so upset. No, you but I've been watching him for a long time. He went too far. Yeah, he went too far. Bye. His doors always unlock. And that's I'm sure the baby's big enough the baby. Yeah. He said he knows how to unlock doors now. So, and he don't bother putting a chamber on, right? Well, thank you. Yeah. I got up. He had woken up. He had woken up. I had gotten up and he went to watch Coco Melon and do his ABCs. So, he's in there doing his ABCs and then I go to the bathroom like, you know, cuz sometimes you got to take it a morning, you know. So, I went to go do that. Normally, it's quick in and out. And he's watching his ABCs on the Coco Melon cartoon and I didn't hear him. And I guess he walked out here. He must have been out here must not been too long or somebody spotted him. And obviously when you see a toddler in the street for God's sake, you're going to freak out and be like, "What the hell's going on here?" Do you know about the time that it was from the time that you last saw him until Right. Right. when uh the neighbor Sharon came over and brought him in, you know. So the neighbors I don't know if it was her. She said some other neighbor called you guys. Otherwise, she knew, you know, who he is. She immediately brought him in the house and brought him to Do you know like the amount of time it was from the time you got into the bathroom because you weren't see I mean he must have been out here just for a minute or two like Okay. I mean, has has this happened before? No. No. No. Well, he drives a little Jeep. I got that modified Jeep that I made for him. Okay. and he's used to being around the neighborhood collecting golf balls, driving around his Jeep, so he's probably too comfortable around this neighborhood, but you know, this hour of the day on a Sunday shouldn't be out there at all, you know. Yeah. Um, so yeah, it's highly embarrassing. And and then you said the front door was locked. Yeah, it was deadbolted. Yeah, you could reach it, I guess. Okay. I don't I mean I'm I'm stunned that uh Mr. escape artist here has managed to do that in the amount of time that he did. You said you were in the bathroom. Yeah. Trying to think of [ __ ] fella. So, when the neighbor came over and notified you, what were you doing? I was in the bedroom at that point because I had just went in there to find him to make sure he was still watching Coco Melon. She comes walking in the house and I'm like, "What's going on?" So, you already awake? Yeah. Your uh cameras working? No, no, they don't. That one's just a dummy. And the other one's a dummy as well. Well, that one actually does work, but it's dead. And there was another one. I think it's falling down. Okay. I guess I'm glad my son's safe. He's in my arms. Yeah, we want to just make sure that your son is safe. He's absolutely safe. We were Lee stays with his grandparents generally most of the time because I don't like this house because it's so old and rickety and I mean the water works, electric works and all that. It's just 70s house, you know. There's just not a very conducive safety to a a kid, you know? Like there's a pool in the back that's green because I can't afford to take care of it right now. You know, like I said, man, we 9 days after he came home, our dog was like crossing the yard from her house. My neighbor ran her over right in front of her and the dog got killed. So, she got a little bit and we separated after that because we just couldn't figure things out. It was just um postpartum is a thing, man. It triggered everything just like a total snowball. So, we've been trying therapists and stuff to get things sorted out between the two of us. And her mother's, you know, taking that. He normally stays at the grandparents house. Yeah. When he's with me, he's only with me six days a month. Oh, okay. Where's the grandparents? Uh, wrote over surf club. Oh, okay. Yeah. Building three unit uh 118. And then his mom is local as well. No, she moved at the land. Okay. So, we don't even see each other. I just pick him up to and from daycare. But yeah, he's he was in his nursery watching Coco Melon. And then where is that in relation to like the house where I was? It's on the other end of the hallway. But I I' I I'd like to just It's okay. We're going to be okay. It was going to take you away. So, you were in You're in You're I went to my I went to my bedroom from my bathroom. Yeah. Yeah. And then and he was not realizing that he was freaking outside like So, you weren't asleep or anything like that? No. No. And he was in his room watching Coco Melon. Yeah. So, how did he how did he get out? He he opened the dead bolt somehow. The dead bolt? Yes. How tall canach is dead? It's about right here. He reached up and got it. He said about right here. Yeah. And he's about right here. He can reach. He can reach. Is there a step or something? Like I don't know what he did. I'm telling you. I dead bolt that door at night. Of course. I'm a father of a 2 and 1 half-year-old. You think I'm not going to leave the dead bull on? The door doesn't even latch otherwise. I don't know. Like I said, he's got I mean, he's he's long for a 2 and 1 halfyear-old. He He's got some reach. So, he's never tried to open this dead boat before. No, we don't. We're not here very often. We're not here often. He stayed most of the time at my parents house when he's with me for this very reason because I have a pool that is un unmaintained. I can't afford to maintain it. Why are you guys here now? Well, we we spent the night here last night. Okay. So, I wanted to It's my last night with my son. Okay. I wanted to just be with my son. That's it. I just wanted to be with my son. I'm sorry he got out in the street and I'm sorry the neighbors obviously obviously flipped out. She would have known right saying he's been out here for over 20 minutes. So that's my I'm not I'm not aware of how long it was. I can't tell you. I don't know. I don't know what 20 minutes is to other people, but I don't think it was that long. But that's that's what they're saying. Well, I thought he was in his bedroom watching cocoa melon for 20 minutes. It's okay, buddy. They're not going to take you away. Okay? I promise. It's going to be okay. I just want to All I All I know is that I'm glad that public service has helped me get my kid back in my arms. I'm glad that my neighbors helped out. And I just want to move on and get the rest of my weekend with my son in because I'm just a dad who misses his little boy. and I only get so much time with him. He's wellfed. We went miniature golfing yesterday. I'll I'll I'll take you through some photos in my phone which will let you know that he's a well taken care of little boy. His pajamas don't match. That's fine. That's not our concern right now. Like I understand he's not in a He doesn't live here. He's not He's not even He's my son. He I only see him part-time. If this turns into something else, I'm never going to see him again. And it's not because of any domestic issue or anything else. It's because her and her mother decided that they wanted to move to the land with my son and say goodbye to me and take this baby and run with him. And I get him luckily because Katie, his mother, is decent enough to still let me spend time with him. I mean, how can I screw this up in three days a month or three days every two every twice a month? You know, I've I've somehow I'm somehow managed. Okay. Well, I asked you earlier how long it was, and you said it could have been more than a minute. Only a few minutes. I I didn't realize it was out here that long. I don't know what who said that, but it's been over 20 minutes. And who knows how long he was really out here because that's just when she noticed him out here. So, well, I remember when he woke up, I like I said, I thought that he was in his bedroom watching Coca-Cola. I could hear the the music going and as long as the song is going cuz I don't even have internet. I used to use my phone. Been changed uh last night right before bed. It's 9 It's after 9:00 a.m. Right. Right. He was going to be doing all these. When did he go to bed? He went to bed about 900 p.m. 9:30. What time did you wake up? Uh, this morning about What time is it now? It's 9:20. About 8 8:15 8:30 right before he got outside. Come on, buddy. You're all filthy. Let's get a bath at Grammyy's house. Yeah, we're working on ABC's still right now. We're working on phonetics cuz he doesn't know how to say Mickey Mouse. Goes Mickey Mouse. Say Mickey Mouse. Uh, he got in trouble at daycare on Thursday because he pulled some girl's hair, I guess, because he couldn't articulate with words what he was trying to say. So, I'm trying to get him to work on his phonetics. I come in to do damage control on daddy weekends which I take him to do like drive his little Jeep to go golfing. What time does he usually wake up in the morning? He normally wakes up alongside of me. We wake up together. We go morning. And he wakes me up, I wake him up. Vice versa. Otherwise, my phone goes off right around 8. I mean, he's used to getting up earlier than that sometimes because his mom and her mom get up at they work at the hospital. They get up like 5:30 in the morning. You are ready for a diaper. Come on. Coco melon. Cocoa melon. Yeah, I know. Yeah, exactly. Come here. You're going to scare everybody again. Just stay with me. Okay. You want to go get Why don't you get in? I'm going to get ready for going to Gramy's house. We'll put him in this pack and play. I'm going to put him in his pack and play and I'm going to get myself ready. Yeah. [Applause] Does he have anything? About 10. AJ Dur Anders. So, what's the next step here? I don't know. We're just standing here. We're waiting for them to Yeah, I'm not there. So, I'm ready to just carry on with my day at this point. Well, it's not something easy. I know. I know. I know. I know. I understand. I get it. May this house. Yeah, grandma's house. We're going to grandma's house. So, based on the totality of the circumstances, do you mind if we just go inside, double check the welfare of the living situations? I know we don't live here. He does not live here. We were just stopped here last night and we ended up staying here. I know, but he's your child. You said you you have been for a certain amount of days. I'm not okay with that. because of the fact that I have a dog that's not well. He smells bad. He's got an ear infection. Well, where would your son, not your dad? Right. Right. So, if a child is staying here, no matter if it's for a day or if it's for 6 months or 2 hours, yeah, there needs to be some sort of Right. Uh, we we camp out in my truck of the child. You camp out in your truck most of the time. Well, like a lot of times with him, we just hang out in my truck. I I try to spend as little time here as possible. I only meet with my ex here to transfer the child on most occasions because it's midway. Well, because of everything that occurs today, we need to check out the welfare. I don't want anyone coming in the house right now. Then why is that? Because I I again I've been staying with my parents. I normally stay with my Okay. But last night you stayed here with the child, right? I we spent a few hours here between like 10:00 p.m. 9:30 p.m. and 9:30 a.m. That's a long time. So, does he have like a bed? Yeah. Okay. Can we confirm that? Just the living situation of him to confirm. I carried him in and he stayed in his room. Can we confirm that he has like a proper bed and he has proper Come on. Which one of you? Well, there's going to be two of us at least. A lot of lot of mess around here. [Applause] Come on. There we go. Ross. Ross, I got to call and let him know we're on our way. Ross, can you come over here for a sec? Anderson, come here. I'm here. If I'm going to be in jail, buddy. Come over here. I'll have to get out. Uh, I have a a key to my work vehicle. Few things to worry about. Hey, bud. Anderson. Anderson. Come here, buddy. And yeah, he was going to be I was going to return the dog and just what do you call that? That dog ever leave that cage? Yeah, he does. But like because he runs, he was in it. That's why we were here last night to let about and give them food. Mhm. How far is your wife? 47 miles the land. But the grandparents live across the road. 7 miles away. They're right up the road. They'll be happy to take them. Okay. Okay. We'll call both. We're going to walk over to my car, right? Okay. Just can I grab my meds? No. Has medications on this? Well, can I get my phone at least? Is your house on? Okay. You said you didn't know where it was. Yeah, I I it's in the house you jail between here and bathroom. [Music] Come on. Why are we mad? Did you see what your inside your house looks like? You think that's a proper living situation for your son? Hey, buddy. It's okay. Can I get a high five? Good job. Good job, bud. How about some nuts? You need some nooks. Oh, good job, dude. Good job, Anderson. Good job, buddy. Yeah. You going to sit in a cop car? You said what? I know he's going to be okay. Do you see there's toys? The father was charged with child neglect without great bodily harm and animal neglect following his arrest and booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall inmate detention facility. His bond was set at $4,000 with no information provided on whether he posted it. Want to watch more videos like this one? Click the one on the screen