A runaway teen call prompted Pima County Sheriff's Department deputies to arrest two parents in connection with child abuse charges after their search found “deplorable and unsanitary conditions” at the home, the department said.
Pima County Sheriff's Department arrived at a home in the Three Points area southwest of Tucson after receiving reports that 15-year-old Ryker Lee had run away and was last seen at the home in the midmorning of Sept. 22.
There, deputies “uncovered evidence of child abuse involving three children,” according to a news release from the department.
Danielle Lee-Sharp, 39, who is the biological mother of Lee and his two younger siblings, and the children’s stepfather Michael Menzie, 43, were booked on three counts of child abuse,
the department said. The pair were scheduled to be back in court on Oct. 5.
Menzie was held on a $10,000 bond and Lee-Sharp was held on a $5,000 bond, according to court records.
Lee was still missing as of noon on Sept. 23, and deputies continued their search. He has type 1 diabetes, according to court records. A missing person poster flyer shared by the Sheriff's Department said he required medicine for his condition. He was last seen wearing a neon green shirt and floral-print pants, according to the flyer.
The Sheriff's Department urged the public to call 911 if they had any information.
The Arizona Department of Child Services took custody of the two younger children, according to the Sheriff’s Department’s announcement.
Deputies described the runaway teenager’s living conditions
Pima County deputies described the conditions the children were living in through court documents.
Lee “had been confined inside a small, padlocked room within a recreational vehicle that lacked running water, restroom facilities, and air conditioning,” the release said. Two younger siblings, ages 8 and 10 years old were also living in “deplorable” conditions inside the main home, the Sheriff's Department said.
The couple allowed deputies to search the RV, which they described as Lee’s sleeping area to be about 6 by 5 feet, with two windows. It had no restroom, and Lee-Sharp confirmed to detectives the 15-year-old boy used plastic bottles to urinate in it, court documents said.
Menzie told investigators they had a “routine of intentionally locking” Lee inside every night and that there was no electricity in the RV, documents said.
Lee had no access to a fan, cooler or running water inside the RV, according to documents.
Garbage, moldy food and cat urine plagued the home
Upon entering the home, deputies smelled a “strong odor of cat urine,” and the floor had stains from the urine as well as vomit, according to documents.
Garbage was littered throughout the house and blocking the entrance to the children’s room, deputies wrote in court documents.
The children’s plastic mattress had no bedding, and in the master bedroom, a rifle was laid out, not properly secured, deputies described in the court documents. There was a hole in the middle of the kitchen because of a pipe leaking water and the floor was beginning to sink in, according to documents.
“An unknown black substance was beginning to grow,” deputies wrote.
The fridge had food that was beginning to mold, documents said.
Deputies wrote the home’s conditions were “unsuitable” and were a “health concern” for the children, according to court documents.
Have a news tip? Contact The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com at newstips@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tucson teen disappears. What deputies found at his home was shocking
