Six children under 10 years old were found in a Northwest Side mobile home Sunday alone, hungry, and dirty after the oldest child — a 9-year-old girl — told Corpus Christi Police Department officers she hadn't seen their mother for five days.
The 9-year-old told officers her mother had left several days before in order to "go make money," and that she had been texting her to come home because the youngest child, who is 5 months old, was out of formula.
A woman, who spoke with KRIS 6 News on the condition of anonymity, said she saw police near her home Sunday and noticed the children.
"We were outside and we noticed they were taking like, I think four or five kids and of them was like a 3-year-old baby," she said. "I wanted to cry because you know, how can they do that to kids, especially like not feed them or like just forget about them?"
At one point, she said an officer reached out to her husband for help.
"He asked by husband for a bottle, because I guess one of the kids hadn't ate," she added.
Another neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, said this isn't the first time authorities show up at the residence. He recalled a time when a man was arguing with the childrens' mother.
"They saw him break their SUV window, I don't know with what," he said. "I think they took him because we have never seen him since and after that it was just the female that we had seen there."
Police found unanswered texts on the child's phone.
The children were found after the 9-year-old called Lucas Loya, who currently is an inmate at the Nueces County Jail after being charged with crimes against the children's mother Nautica Dunning. The child asked Loya to try and reach Dunning.
When the inmate's family eventually came to the residence, they told police the childrens' mother Nautica Dunning had been posting Snapchat photos from a local bar.
The report states one child was found on the sofa unconscious "to the point it looked like she was not breathing," two children were in soiled diapers, and another child seemed to be dehydrated.
Paramedics were called after the officers suspected the children were malnourished. They found spoiled milk and inedible food inside the refrigerator. The children also had been inside an extremely hot home for an unknown amount of time without adult supervision.
Officers state in the report that they tried making contact with Dunning, but it wasn't until Family and Protective Services was called out that she was reached.
The report states the 27-year-old mother arrived at the residence with her grandmother.
She originally told officers she had paid a family member to watch the children, but later admitted she "willingly left her children by themselves."
Dunning was arrested and is facing six counts of abandonment/endangering a child with criminal negligence. Her bond was set at $100,000.
This is a developing story. Check back with KRIS 6 News for updates.
