A Florida woman was arrested on a child neglect charge last week, two months after investigators said they found her home infested with roaches and fleas during a welfare check. Authorities said they also found the bodies of three dogs in the home's freezer.
Victoria Kanger, 35, was charged with felony child neglect following the October welfare check.
Deputies arrived at her home around 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 5 after they were called by her ex-boyfriend, officials with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said.
When deputies arrived, they were immediately confronted by a “strong, pungent odor of a mixture of feces and urine before even entering into the residence,” an arrest report said.
Kanger “immediately became defensive, stating (that her ex) is just harassing her with false allegations,” the report said.
Deputies report finding "deplorable conditions"
Deputies said they found a horrific situation inside Kanger’s home in Pierson, with “an extremely large amount of trash and clutter” and “a very large amount of cockroaches crawling on the common areas, such as the couches, tables, piles of clutter and the walls of the residence.”
One deputy started to itch the moment he walked into the home, “only to look down and see his lower pants legs covered in fleas,” the report said.
Numerous cats were seen living inside the home, but deputies said they only found one litter box, which was “completely full of cat feces to a point where the cats would not be able to use it properly.”
Deputies say dead dogs found in freezer, child identifies them by name
Kanger’s ex-boyfriend had told dispatchers that he believed there were dead dogs being stored in a freezer at the home.
When deputies asked about the dogs, one of the children “overheard this question and eagerly answered it by saying, ‘There are three,’” according to the arrest report.
The child then identified the dogs by name, the arrest report said.
Kanger told deputies that she had not buried the dogs “because she does not yet have a shovel,” and that there was no food being stored in the freezer in which she was keeping them, the report said.
House is "usually clean," woman tells deputies
According to the deputies, Kanger tried to explain that the house is usually clean and “has only been in this condition for several days,” the report said.
When deputies expressed their skepticism that a home could become so filthy in only a few days, she blamed the state of the home on her ex-boyfriend, according to authorities.
Kanger also said the home was in poor condition because she is disabled and has numerous health issues, the report said.
Deputies said they continued to be shocked not only by the condition of the home, but by the residents’ lackadaisical reaction to it.
“While speaking with Kanger, her and (her child) were sitting on a couch in which cockroaches were crawling en masse,” the report said. “At times, a cockroach would crawl on them and they would casually brush it off.”
When deputies told Kanger they were calling the Florida Department of Children and Families, she got one of the children to help her clean the home, the report said.
DCF responds to the home
A DCF investigator arrived about two hours later, and found that the home had been cleaned up.
Regardless, “it was still in deplorable condition,” the report said.
Deputies had taken photos of the home before it was cleaned and shared them with the DCF investigator, who decided to remove the two children from the residence.
One of Kanger’s adult children lived in a separate home on the property, and the DCF investigator decided to allow the two younger children to move there for the time being.
Accusations of flight from justice and arrest
Deputies did not take Kanger into custody at the time of their visit, but a warrant charging her with child neglect was issued on Dec. 8, Sheriff's Office records show.
The arrest report did not give any information on why deputies decided not to arrest Kanger at the scene.
By the time the warrant was filed, Kanger had fled to avoid arrest, according to authorities.
She was found Thursday at a property in Pierson, investigators said.
She was arrested on a warrant charging her with being a fugitive from justice.
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