GRANTSVILLE, Utah — A Utah mother is facing child abandonment and child abuse charges after police say her 9-year-old daughter was found living alone in a trailer near the Grantsville Reservoir.
FOX 13 News is not naming the woman to protect the identity of the victim.
According to court documents, family members called police on Sept 18, claiming that the girl was starving and extremely thirsty.
Officers later arrived at the scene and found the girl, who appeared to be covered in dirt from head to toe. Investigators added that she was wearing a torn and badly stained dress, and appeared not to have changed or showered for a significant amount of time.
The victim told police that she was thirsty, with officers providing the girl with a gallon of water, which they said she consumed as if she hadn't drunk water in a significant amount of time.
The victim said that she and her mother had been living for weeks in a trailer at the reservoir with no running water. The victim added that her mother would disappear for days, and when she was around, she was usually drunk or high on methamphetamine and would become violent towards her.
Officials transported the girl for care in Tooele for possible dehydration and malnutrition.
When detectives later interviewed the girl in the presence of her grandmother, she shared that her mother would sometimes bring a bucket of water from the reservoir for drinking and bathing.
In the days following the rescue of the girl, who reportedly hadn't been to school in several years, detectives said her mother never contacted family or law enforcement to report the girl was missing.
Officers served a search warrant on Wednesday at the location where the victim and her mother were living. In the area, officers searched three trailers that all reportedly had dog feces, urine, and garbage on the floor.
