Latest news with #HeidiBeer
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
Mom abandoned kids in Pennsylvania hovel home...then grandma said it was too disgusting for her to check on them
A mother has been charged with child endangerment after she allegedly abandoned her five children alone in a hovel home without any food or water. Heidi Beer, 35, left her children unsupervised in a rural Pennsylvania home that was littered with urine and feces, the Westmoreland County district attorney alleges. The property in Vandergrift, about 30 miles from Pittsburgh, had no running water, leaky pipes and emanated a 'pungent odor', investigators say. Rotten food and garbage was sprawled across the residence, the bathtub was filled with dirty dishes and the shower faucet had been broken off. The children - ages 9, 10, 14, 15 and 16 - slept on bunkbeds made of plywood without mattresses and kept their clothing in an abandoned house nearby, the DA claims. Vandergrift police first learned of the children's deplorable living conditions on July 28 after responding to an altercation involving some of the siblings. The eldest revealed she was taking care of her siblings and could not get in contact with Beer. Police contacted other relatives, including their grandmother Leslie Keller, who admitted she had not gone into the home for months because it was 'too gross'. Beer and Keller, 69, have both been charged with five counts of child endangerment. Beer also faces additional charges of false reports and recklessly endangering. The children told police their mother was living in Pittsburgh with her boyfriend John Kenny but had not checked on them for several days. Kenny allegedly beat the children and choked one with a belt, according to a criminal complaint obtained by WTAE. He allegedly encouraged Beer to abandon her children and promised to 'give her a new and better life without them,' the complaint states. The children told the officer they did not have food or water, alleging they were reliant on free lunches provided by the school. They would also take empty cat litter containers to Keller's home in Parks Township, about four miles away, and fill them up with water. The grandmother admitted this to investigators, the complaint alleges. Police forced Keller to walk through the residence, during which she allegedly screamed at the 16-year-old for not cleaning the home. The teen said she was trying to keep up with the cleaning but claimed it had gotten to be too much, the report states. The officer reprimanded Keller, claiming it was 'not the children's responsibility to clean this absolute disgrace of a mess'. Police ultimately made contact with Beer, who said she had been staying in West Virginia and admitted that she knew the home was in a deplorable state, according to the DA. The children were placed in the custody of another family member and Beer was remanded to the Westmoreland County Prison after failing to post bail. She is also facing additional charges after she allegedly lied to police about the whereabouts of her 14-year-old child and endangering her a second time after the initial incident. Keller, when approached by KDKA last week, said she was not aware of the charges filed against her. 'Nobody has said anything to me about it. There have been no police here, nothing like that,' she told the news outlet. She added: 'The children were supposed to at least clean up after themselves, and they didn't even do that.' Their other grandmother, Darla Updegraff, has vowed to 'do everything in my power' to ensure the children's safety. She described the residence as being a 'hoarder house with a real bad, strong, disgusting animal smell', adding how the children were 'hungry, dirty, and stunk'. She believes Beer deserves to be punished to the full extent of the law. Police, meanwhile, say their investigation remains ongoing and that it is possible further charges could be filed in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties.
CBS News
05-08-2025
- CBS News
Pittsburgh-area mom, grandma charged after 5 kids left without food or water in deplorable conditions, police say
Vandergrift police charged a mother and a grandmother with multiple counts of child abuse after they said five children were left in a home without food or water for days. Darla Updegraff walked into a filthy home on July 28 after police called her to stop by her grandkids' house. "Picture it being a hoarder house with a real bad, strong, disgusting animal smell," Updegraff said. "Not a condition where any child, whether it be my grandkids or it be any kid. I don't see how anybody can live like that." Court records said her five grandchildren, ages 9 to 16, were living at the home on Emerson Street with their mom, 35-year-old Heidi Beer, but Beer had allegedly left them alone for days and didn't respond when the children tried to contact her. Officers said feces and urine from dogs, rotten food, and garbage were all over the floors, with insects flying around as the area was dealing with temperatures in the 90s. In the criminal complaint, an officer said, "The odor was so strong my eyes were burning and nose began running. I kept gagging and then proceeded to vomit outside." "They were hungry, they were dirty, they stunk. It's just disgusting," Updegraff said. Police said the only food the children were getting was the free lunches at Kiski Area Upper Elementary School. As for water, they hauled it from the home of their maternal grandmother, 69-year-old Leslie Keller, about a mile away "using old cat litter containers," police said. KDKA went to talk to Keller at her home on Tuesday to ask her about the child endangerment charges filed against her and her stepdaughter, Beer. "The children were supposed to at least clean up after themselves, and they didn't even do that," Keller told KDKA. She told KDKA she was not aware of the charges. "Nobody has said anything to me about it. There have been no police here, nothing like that," Keller said. Keller said Beer deserves to face the consequences, also alleging Beer abandoned her children, and said she told Beer what she was doing wasn't right. KDKA's Lauren Linder asked Beer if being aware of the situation makes her culpable. "No, it doesn't," Keller said. According to court records, Beer's boyfriend also "beat [the kids] with belts, choked one of the boys," and even fired a pistol in the air. Officers also said the boyfriend asked Beer to abandon her kids and have a better life without them. Updegraff just wishes Beer had reached out for help. "I believe that she deserves everything she gets," Updegraff said. "I will do everything in my power to continue doing what I'm doing and keeping my grandkids safe." The Vandergrift police chief told KDKA the investigation is ongoing, but it's possible more charges could be filed in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties.
