New details have emerged about the West Virginia parents arrested after their 8-year-old daughter jumped from a second-story window and walked to a store to beg for food.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Ellio and Ryan Hardman are facing criminal charges after their daughter on July 7 made her way to a Family Dollar in Calhoun County, where she allegedly pleaded for help from staff.
While holding a teddy bear, the child reportedly told employees that she and her three siblings had not eaten in days except for a sandwich one of them made.
“The little girl she came through the store, just walked up to us,” Family Dollar employee Kelly Hutchinson told WOWK-TV. “And said, ‘I’m hungry. My mom and dad don’t want me no more. Do you have anything I can eat?’”
New reporting reveals that when police went to the child’s home in Arnoldsburg, they found it fully stocked with food, including “food in the cupboards, food pantry, refrigerator and freezer for the entire family,” according to court records obtained by WOWK-TV.
Drug paraphernalia was also discovered in the residence, which reeked of marijuana, WCHS-TV reports.
When an officer asked Ryan if he knew where his daughter was located, Ryan allegedly responded that he believed the girl was upstairs with another sibling but that she was known to leave the house.
The girl allegedly told police that she jumped out of the window because she was not allowed downstairs, and that she would be forced to lay in her room without food for days as punishment. One sibling allegedly confirmed this punishment and told officers that it could extend for a week, according to WCHS-TV.
The child’s plight resonated with Family Dollar employee Sandra Knicley.
“Me having kids of my own, it just broke my heart her saying she was hungry and haven’t ate,” Knicley told WOWK-TV. “No little girl should ever feel like she’s not wanted. No kid for that matter.”
The Hardmans, both 33, are each charged with child neglect with risk of serious bodily injury or death and conspiracy; they are being held in the Central Regional Jail on $100,000 bonds.
Authorities have removed the girl and her siblings from the residence.
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[Feature Photo: Ryan and Ellio Hardman/West Virginia Regional Jail]
