A South Side property owner made a startling discovery in the early hours of Friday morning when he spotted a 2-year-old girl wandering alone in the woods on his game camera footage. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office was promptly alerted and initiated a search due to the child’s tender age, the early hour, and the chilly weather.
The property owner contacted the authorities around 6 a.m., and by 8 a.m., the child’s mother reported her missing. The mother, 25-year-old Haley Peoples, was subsequently arrested on suspicion of abandoning or endangering a child. The child’s grandmother was also taken into custody for allegedly obstructing a child-abuse investigation.
The footage showed the child navigating through the underbrush, dressed only in a dress and without shoes. The overnight temperatures had dropped to the 40s, a potentially life-threatening situation for a child of her age. Deputies combed the area, checked nearby residences, and alerted hospitals and patrol units.
Upon arriving at the family’s home, deputies discovered unsanitary living conditions, including heaps of garbage, dirty clothes, decaying food, and rat droppings, accompanied by a strong smell of urine. Emergency medical crews requested a medical evaluation for the 2-year-old after finding her in a soiled state. However, Peoples declined the evaluation at the scene and refused to change the child’s clothes, leading deputies to detain her.
The child’s grandmother, Rebecca Kelly, returned to the home while investigators were present but left after being asked to wait for a supervisor. It was later found out that Kelly had gone to Harmony Elementary School before 9 a.m. and attempted to remove the girl’s three siblings from class. School staff reported that Kelly told the children that Child Protective Services (CPS) was on its way and instructed them not to discuss the incident, referring to it as a “private family matter.”
All four children, each under the age of eight, were taken to a hospital for evaluation and then placed under CPS care while the investigation continues. The property is situated on the city’s South Side, an area characterized by large lots and wooded tracts bordering residential streets.
Child Protective Services has initiated a parallel case to determine temporary placement for the siblings while criminal charges are being pursued. Investigators are scrutinizing the timeline, including when doors were last secured, when adults in the home retired for the night, and when the child was first noticed missing. Detectives are also investigating whether there have been previous calls for service or CPS referrals for the address.