NEW CASTLE, Ind. -- A relative called police when a family, including seven children, had left Fairmount City, Pa., in a moving truck. The relative said at least five of the children were riding in the back storage area of the truck.
Indiana State Police troopers watched I-70 for the truck.
Shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday Trooper Nick Razor saw a truck fitting that description at the Flying "J" Travel Plaza near New Castle.
Razor said David K. Detzen, 41, and his wife Rebecca S. Detzen, 40, were riding in the cab with two small children. Razor then found four children in the unheated back of the truck. They included an 18-year-old daughter and four underage siblings ranging in age from 9 to 17. There also were 18 cats riding with the children.
Troopers say there were sleeping bags in the back, but no heat or communication with the parents in the front. It was 32 degrees out,
"It was really cold in the back of the truck," Razor said.
The family had all their belongings in the truck, troopers said, and was moving to California for a job opportunity for the father. Razor said two of the children were riding on the top of a tall stack of boxes in the back of the truck when he raised the backed door.
The parents were arrested and charged with four counts of Neglect of a Dependent. They were transported to the Henry County jail.
The children were turned over to Child Protective Services, and Henry County Animal Control took possession of the cats. Troopers impounded the rented truck with its contents.
Indiana State Police troopers watched I-70 for the truck.
Shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday Trooper Nick Razor saw a truck fitting that description at the Flying "J" Travel Plaza near New Castle.
Razor said David K. Detzen, 41, and his wife Rebecca S. Detzen, 40, were riding in the cab with two small children. Razor then found four children in the unheated back of the truck. They included an 18-year-old daughter and four underage siblings ranging in age from 9 to 17. There also were 18 cats riding with the children.
Troopers say there were sleeping bags in the back, but no heat or communication with the parents in the front. It was 32 degrees out,
"It was really cold in the back of the truck," Razor said.
The family had all their belongings in the truck, troopers said, and was moving to California for a job opportunity for the father. Razor said two of the children were riding on the top of a tall stack of boxes in the back of the truck when he raised the backed door.
The parents were arrested and charged with four counts of Neglect of a Dependent. They were transported to the Henry County jail.
The children were turned over to Child Protective Services, and Henry County Animal Control took possession of the cats. Troopers impounded the rented truck with its contents.
