As a 23-month-old Woodridge boy rested under the watchful eyes of his grandparents Friday, neighbors and authorities alike wondered how a child could have been left for five days to fend for himself after his mother was admitted to a mental hospital.
Responding to complaints of noise and an odor so strong that neighbors feared someone was dead, police found the unidentified toddler Thursday inside the Waterbury Condominiums apartment owned by his mother.
The child’s hair was matted, and he was covered in his own waste, neighbors said. He apparently had rifled through cabinets and the refrigerator, eating everything from a wrapped, frozen porkchop and raw hamburger to cereal and ice cream.
The boy was treated and released to his grandparents, according to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Relatives came to the apartment briefly Friday, but left without comment.
Police said they don’t expect to file charges against the mother, whom they declined to identify. Neighbors said they wondered what took police so long to enter the apartment.
Police first came to the apartment on Monday, but left when no one answered the door. After responding to complaints of a crying baby and a loud stereo several more times and once even slipping a noise complaint under the door, they returned on Thursday afternoon–this time with family permission to enter.
The boy’s mother had been admitted to the Elgin Mental Health Center last Saturday, after Bolingbrook paramedics found her acting erratically at a Walgreen’s drugstore.
Woodridge Police Chief Geoffrey Korous said the woman apparently never told police or hospital officials about the boy.
“It’s bad, it’s sad, but police have determined that there has been no criminal intent by the mother,” Korous said.
