A Pierson woman
has been arrested after Volusia County authorities find a child living in deplorable conditions in a home covered in roaches and feces with three dead dogs inside of a freezer.
A Pierson woman was arrested Thursday after authorities found a child living in deplorable conditions in her home — which was covered in roaches and feces with three dead dogs inside a freezer — according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
The investigation into Victoria Kanger, 35, began in October. A tipster told authorities that a 5-year-old child was staying inside the Hastings Road home in unlivable conditions.
“It is like disgusting, nonlivable for a 5-year-old … there’s poop all over the floor, there’s piles of clothes, there’s roaches … we’re concerned for her safety, her welfare,” the tipster told authorities in a call released Friday.
When deputies responded Oct. 5, they smelled a pungent mixture of urine and feces before even walking into the home, according to court documents.
A Department of Children and Families investigator responded about two hours after the initial call, and decided that the child, along with one of Kanger’s adult children, would be removed from the home and relocated, according to a charging affidavit.
A phone call placed to a number listed under Kanger’s name went unanswered Friday. A warrant was issued for her arrest, and she was charged Thursday with neglect of a child. She’s being held in Volusia County Jail on $2,500 bond.
During the deputies’ visit, one immediately felt itchy upon walking inside the home and looked down to see fleas covering his legs. Authorities saw cockroaches crawling on couches and tables and feeding on numerous spots of animal waste on the floor.
None of the residents wore shoes, deputies said. The child stepped barefoot in cockroach-covered feces.
When deputies asked Kanger about the reports of dead dogs in the freezer, the child “overheard this ques-
tion and eagerly answered by saying there are three deceased dogs inside of the freezer and even called the animals out by name,” according to an affidavit.
Inside the freezer, deputies found the dogs wrapped in plastic inside cardboard boxes. Kanger told deputies she couldn’t bury the dogs because she didn’t have a shovel, authorities said.
Inside of a refrigerator, deputies found dead and live cockroaches, but a very limited amount of food. They opened shelves looking for food, but were greeted instead by numerous cats resting on the shelves.
There was one litter box inside the home, but it was so full that it was unusable, deputies said.
Kanger and the child sat on a couch while deputies questioned Kanger about the condition of the home.
On the couch, “cockroaches were crawling in mass. At times, a cockroach would crawl on them and they would casually brush it off,” according to court documents.