A dead body found in the front yard in a house in north Brisbane has lead authorities to two naked, malnourished teenagers. The shocking discovery was reported on May 27.
Child neglect
According to the police who responded to the scene, they were called to a house in Stafford on the morning of May 27, where they immediately found the body of a 49-year-old man in the front yard of the house.
The death of the man is not ruled as suspicious, but the two teenagers that were locked inside the house in squalid conditions was what caught the attention of the authorities.
The case has been referred to the Department of Child Safety and the police are still waiting for the post-mortem examination of the deceased man.
A man from the neighborhood told ABC that he knew who the dead man was, and he said that the house stank so much. He said that there is chicken in the kitchen and the two boys were always in their room, as the two rarely go out.
The man also said that he had visited the raided house around four times in 2017 and he knew the deceased man from the Everton Park Bowls Club.
The two boys were locked in their room when the police kicked in the front door, and they saw the chickens running around the house.
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The ABC news showed the footage of the boys wearing only nappies and playing on a mattress, they were both locked in an isolated room.
Another video was taken by the dead man's neighbor. The video showed the two teenage boys wearing nappies and both were sitting in the back yard with broken beer bottles all over the ground. One of the boys was playing with a sock.
Another neighbor said that one of the boys was known in the neighborhood as the "naked bandit" because he was once seen running around naked.
Failed by the child safety department
According to the neighbors, the man who died in the front yard had a terminal medical condition. They said that he would often hose the boys down on waterproof blow-up mattresses in the house's back garden.
There is a note left on the gate of the property, it is written on pink paper and folded into a heart with the message "We will miss you."
Gayle Flewell-Smith, one of the neighbors, said that she could not understand why the boys were neglected and why the man dropped dead in his front yard without getting any help. She said that he knew that he was dying but he claimed that he had someone who will come in to check on the boys.
Ms. Smith also said that the man had given her a frozen chicken for Christmas last year after she moved into the neighborhood.
The man told her that he always gave a chicken to new neighbors. She also said that she came to check on the man's dog sometimes and he said that he had a friend nearby who is ready to take care of the dog in case something happens to him.
The said dog was removed from the property on May 27. The Department of Child Safety has not commented on the situation yet.
