HAMBURG, IA – A disturbing incident has unfolded in Fremont County, Iowa, resulting in the arrest of two grandparents. Elvin Leroy Culley, 78, and Martha Karen Perry-Culley, 61, face charges stemming from child endangerment and neglect or abandonment of a dependent person. This follows the arrest of Dustin Perry and Lindsay Hamilton on charges linked to child neglect and endangerment in July after a 4-year-old boy was found escaping from a homemade cage.
The events came to light on July 25 when deputies discovered the 4-year-old in deplorable conditions inside a Hamburg, Iowa, residence. According to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, the child was found among “a mixture of both human and animal feces.”
Investigators allege that the 26-year-old parents, Perry and Hamilton, had left their children in the care of the grandparents with explicit instructions to confine the 4-year-old, who suffers from developmental disabilities, within a “makeshift cage.” The sheriff’s office detailed the crude construction of the cage, noting it was built from a pack-and-play and baby gate, secured together with zip ties.
Adding to the distressing situation, deputies reported the discovery of another similar cage in a walk-in closet in the Shenandoah home.
Describing the case as one of the worst child abuse situations he had encountered, Sheriff Kevin Aistrope insisted an exhaustive investigation was underway.