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FARMINGTON, Mo. (AP) — Investigators say a Missouri woman accused of barricading four children in tiny rooms with no access to water or toilets had child-sized inmate uniforms made for them.
Thirty-eight-year-olds Daryl Justen Head and Laura Elizabeth Cheatham face child endangerment and kidnapping charges. Police and state workers found four children inside windowless rooms blocked by plywood at the couple's home in Farmington. The kids, who had been adopted by Cheatham and her estranged husband, are in state custody.
The St. Francois County Sheriff's Department says Cheatham worked for the Missouri Department of Corrections until recently resigning. Authorities say she ordered four small inmate uniforms in January from a prison clothing division.
Authorities have not discussed a potential motive. The suspects are jailed on $500,000 bond and do not yet have attorneys.
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