Dad PAUL NAYLOR is obviously custodial, though the point is not made explicitly. There is no mention of the mother anywhere, though later there is mention of Daddy's pothead girlfriend. The kids are now in "state custody," which suggests that Mom may be dead, "disappeared" or otherwise "unavailable."
Notice that this isn't just a case of a dirty house. There is also evidence that this father physically abused the kids and made death threats. That "should" make the authorities consider the question of what happened to the mother. It's no secret that abusers are unusually successful at gaining and maintaining custody/control of the kids and eliminating the mother through any number of means. Was a family court or child protection services involved in this situation? Who knows. No explanation here.
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/Father-Accused-of-Abuse-Children-Living-in-Filthy-Conditions-209255771.html
FIRST ON WSAZ.COM: Father Accused of Abuse; Children Living in Filthy Conditions
By: Brooks Jarosz
Updated: Tue 8:06 PM, May 28, 2013
ST. ALBANS, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A father is under arrest, accused of abuse, child neglect and using drugs.
Troopers tell WSAZ.com the family lived in disgusting and deplorable conditions.
Paul Naylor, 32, of St. Albans, was charged with two counts of child neglect resulting in injury and one count of conspiracy.
Garbage and junk piled high on the porch were only the beginning of what police and neighbors say was inside a mobile home in St. Albans.
"I've knocked on the door and I've kind of seen inside, and there was trash everywhere," friend Aaron Zabriesack said.
Trash waist high, dog feces, urine and even a dead rat in an aquarium were found, according to the criminal complaint.
However, troopers say what led them to the home was a call for help. A 9-year-old girl feared for her life, according to neighbors, and told police her father, Paul Naylor, made threats and hurt her.
"She had all kinds of bruises and she lied about them," Zabriesack said.
The girl told police Naylor threatened to kill her, her 3-year-old sister and everyone who lives at the trailer park. She says he held a knife to her neck, so she ran for help.
"You know it's ridiculous -- people take people for granted nowadays," neighbor Amy Fields said.
Whisper Oaks Lane is a place filled with kids and families. They play together, go to school together and know each other well. Most of the neighbors say they knew the 9-year-old and 3-year-old sisters were living in filthy conditions.
"Every time she'd come over she'd always smell like animals and she would always be real dirty," Fields said.
"The house smelled bad, and we felt something was going on funny there," friend John Young said.
Troopers searched the home and found dogs, animal waste, roaches, marijuana, drug items and prescription pill bottles. A toilet and hot water tank didn't even work.
State Police say Naylor told them the children had not been bathed in two days. When they searched, troopers say they never did find any soap or cleaning supplies. Instead, troopers found flies, a tub they say was unusable and a unbearable smell.
"They'll get what's coming to them you know for doing that to their kids," Fields said.
The children were taken to the hospital. They are safe and now in state custody.
Naylor was arrested. Police say his girlfriend, Kimberly Anderson, showed up high on drugs. She admitted she had been smoking marijuana, according to the criminal complaint.
Neighbors say now those children can escape from a place they say no one should have to call home.
Naylor and Anderson are both behind bars.