Cops: Parents nabbed after toddlers found naked, covered in feces
LOXLEY, Alabama (WALA) — Police in Alabama arrested the parents of two toddlers after bystanders at Love’s Travel Stop at I-10 and Hwy. 59 saw the children running around the hot parking lot, naked. It was a sight that caught drivers by complete surprise Wednesday, July 28.
“There’s RVs. There’s trailers. There’s construction equipment, boats…things are going through that front parking lot constantly and they’d have never seen a child that small run-up underneath one of them,” explained Lt. Doug Phillips with Loxley Police.
It was around 10:00 a.m. when bystanders called 9-1-1. Even more shocking to the police was the condition they found the brother and sister in. Investigators said the two were covered in feces. Parked nearby was a van where police said the mother and father were sleeping when the kids somehow managed to get out unnoticed.
“Very possible that they just got out of the van because they were awake and wanted to play or whatever and happenstance as it is, luckily somebody saw that and decided to call us, so we were able to get the kids the help they needed,” Phillips said.
Police identified the parents as 19-year-old Larisa Suca and 20-year-old Alex Vasile Busuiocr, both Romanian citizens. Neither speaks English, so investigators had to interview them using an interpreter, through video conference.
Police called for medical assistance to have the toddlers checked out. Paramedics took both children to the hospital, telling police they appeared to also be malnourished. Investigators said there are still many questions, but it appears the family had been vacationing there.
“The information that we’ve gathered has told us that they were coming from Tennessee, went to the beach here in Alabama and were…had stayed there for a vacation supposedly, and were returning back to Tennessee,” Phillips said.
Both parents have been charged with torture / willful abuse of a child and are being held in the Baldwin County Jail awaiting a bond hearing. DHR will be determining what to do with the children. The van they were driving was released into the custody of a traveling companion who is believed to be related to one of the parents.