Mission parents in custody after children found home alone during freeze warning
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Two parents are in custody after their three children were found home alone while a freeze warning was in effect on Tuesday, according to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office.
The children, a 1-month-old, a 5-year-old and a 9-year-old, were found “cold and hungry” in a residence where the only source of heat was a small space heater powered by an extension cord, according to a news release.
Camila Alvarado, 29, and Julio Cesar Briseno, 30, were identified as the parents of the children. The sheriff’s office said both individuals were each arrested on three counts of abandoning and endangering a child.
Alvarado faces an additional charge of resisting arrest, and Briseno was also arrested on additional charges of failure to identify and violating an active protective order.
According to the sheriff’s office, deputies responded to a welfare concern at the 5600 Block of Texan Road in rural Mission at around 6:18 p.m. where they found the three children in a residence that “lacked proper living conditions.”
The children reported that they had been home alone since the morning.
At around 9:13 p.m., Alvarado and Briseno arrived at the residence and “appeared intoxicated and were uncooperative,” the release stated.
The children are in the custody of the Texas Department of Child Protective Services pending the outcome of the investigation.
Arraignments for Alvarado and Briseno are pending, the release added.