Screaming toddler found tied to wire fence with bungee cord around her neck

A neighbor, Matt Knight who lives in the Nevada Lidgerwood area in Washington, was mowing his lawn said while he was mowing, he heard screams coming from across the street, and then when he looked at the house across from him, he saw a toddler tied to a wire fence with a bungee cord around the neck, strapped to a metal gate and 'struggling around her neck' while screaming at the top of her voice.

He took a photo of the child strapped to the fence, then called the police.

Mr Knight told KHQ:

 'I walked over there and the kid, like the photo you saw, was strapped or caught up in some of the bungee strap to the fence'.

'Because of the previous things that had happened there at the house, I wanted some photo evidence versus a bunch of hearsay.' 

He added:

'That strap or bungee cord was pretty much at neck level. She was up on her feet, but she was kind of struggling around her neck.'

A woman who claimed to be the child's mother showed up and told KHQ that the toddler had become tangled up in the cords, but didn't explain how or why the child was out of the house alone.

According to Knight, Police have been called to the house on three separate occasions within the last one month. The first two times were when the children were left unattended in the street and the third time was when the child was left unattended and seen crawling in the streets by herself.

Mr. Knight

Mr Knight said he wanted the Department of Social Health Services (DSHS) to step in and help the toddler.

But a spokesman to DSHS said it cannot comment on individual cases unless there is a death or a child nearly dies.
They also said a child is only immediately removed from a home if they're in imminent danger.