Lawmen find 11 N.M. kids living in filth

TAOS, N.M. — A message that people were starving, believed to have come from someone inside a makeshift compound in rural northern New Mexico, led to the discovery of 11 children living in filthy conditions.

Taos County sheriff’s officials said Saturday that the children ranging in age from 1 to 15 were removed from the compound in the small community of Amalia — 145 miles northeast of Albuquerque in an isolated high-desert area near the Colorado border. They were then turned over to state child-welfare workers.

Two men were arrested during the search. Siraj Wahhaj was detained on an outstanding warrant in Georgia alleging child abduction. Lucas Morten was jailed on suspicion of harboring a fugitive, Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said.

It was not immediately clear Sunday if either had retained an attorney.

Hogrefe said FBI agents had surveilled the area a few weeks ago but didn’t find probable cause to search the property.

That changed when Georgia detectives forwarded a message to Hogrefe’s office that initially had been sent to a third party, saying: “We are starving and need food and water.”

The sheriff said there was reason to believe the message came from someone inside the compound.

Other than a few potatoes and a box of rice, there was little food in the compound, which Hogrefe said consisted of a small travel trailer buried in the ground and covered by plastic with no water, plumbing or electricity.