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2 young children found living in filthy house packed with trash on Detroit's west side

Officials say house packed shoulder-high with trash

DETROIT – Two young children were found on Detroit's west side in a house packed from basement to the second floor with filthy garbage.

The house is on Woodbine Street, just south of McNichols Road. Investigators said it's one of the worst things they've ever seen.

Crews said it's mind-boggling how much stuff they removed from the filthy home.

 "It's nasty in there," a worker said. "The bailiff said it smelled like death."

Trash, mountains of dirty clothes and toys were found in the home. One worker said anything and everything was packed inside the home, including bed bugs and feces.

Officials found a bath tub entirely filled with human waste. There was running water in the house, but the family was using the bath tub instead.

There were also holes in the walls.

The woman who owns the home said she rented it to a man and a woman with two young children. She said they checked out, had steady jobs and paid the first and last month's rent.

"From the top to the bottom, there's bugs, dog feces, children, diapers, all types of stuff," she said.

But she said they haven't paid since.

"I don't know how anyone can live inside there, and she's only been there for six months," she said.

When the 36th District Court came to evict the family, officials couldn't believe anyone was able to walk through shoulder-high trash.

The two people evicted from the home deny that there were children living with them, but the court officer confirms that children were living in the unsafe conditions.

"I don't know how they eat, because the refrigerator was blocked," the landlord said. "The refrigerator and the stove were blocked with boxes and trash."

By the time Child Protective Services arrived at the home, the woman already had her young son and had disappeared.

The baby girl is inside a house, where her father was on a porch watching crews empty out the house. Police spoke to him for a few minutes and left.

Nobody is being charged with any type of child endangering right now, officials said. It's unclear if Child Protective Services will return to check on the children.

The woman who owns the house had to evict the family, so she was coming to the home to live with her five children. The house is now destroyed, so she's not sure if she'll be able to go back inside the home ever again.

Stay with ClickOnDetroit.com for updates to this story.

You can watch Shawn Ley's full story in the video posted above.


About the Authors
Shawn Ley headshot

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.

Derick Hutchinson headshot

Derick is the Lead Digital Editor for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.

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