Vandergrift, PA – Five children were found living in squalor, without food, clean water, or adult supervision inside a home on Emerson Street — leading to charges against two women, including the children’s mother.
Heidi Beer, 35, and her mother, Leslie Keller, 69, are both facing charges of child endangerment after police discovered the children, ages 16, 15, 14, 10, and 9, alone and living in what officers described as “deplorable” conditions. Beer is also charged with false reports and recklessly endangering another person.
The investigation began when Vandergrift Police encountered the children during an unrelated call. Officers offered them a ride home and were immediately met with an overwhelming odor coming from the residence. Inside, they found urine and feces on the floor, no food or water, dirt throughout the home, holes in the walls, leaking pipes, and makeshift plywood bunk beds without mattresses. The children said they had not seen Beer in days.
The children told police they had to go to a neighboring home — an abandoned property — to store their clothes. For water, they reportedly carried jugs from Keller’s home in Parks Township. When contacted, Keller admitted to avoiding the house for months because it was “too gross,” but acknowledged the children were using her home to get water.
Beer was later located and admitted she was staying in West Virginia. She told police she was aware of the home’s unlivable state. Officers say she also gave false information about the location of the 14-year-old child and further endangered the child after the initial police encounter.
The children were released into the custody of another relative. Beer was taken into custody and booked at Westmoreland County Prison after failing to post bail.
All charges are currently pending, and both women are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Key Points
- Five children were found living alone in filthy, dangerous conditions in Vandergrift
- Heidi Beer and Leslie Keller were charged, with Beer facing additional counts
- The home had no food or water; children collected water in jugs from another residence
