LITTLE CANADA, Minn. — A Little Canada woman is charged with two counts of child neglect and endangerment for allegedly leaving her three small children home alone all day in deplorable conditions.
The charges are detailed in a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County against 26-year-old Stormie Marie Gysbers.
Ramsey County deputies were dispatched to the apartment on the 400 block of Labore Road after a 911 call from Gysbers' sister early the evening of March 1. The caller told arriving deputies she had come to the apartment shortly before 5:30 p.m. and knocked on the door after she and her mother had failed to reach Gysbers all day. The defendant's 5-year-old son answered the door and said his mother had left the apartment shortly after he had awakened and that he, his 2-year-old sibling and a 6-month-old brother had been left alone all day with no food. The 2-year-old was only partially clothed and the baby was naked in his crib and had urinated all over.
Deputies took pictures to document the conditions, and quickly determined the place was unfit for human habitation.
Investigators found the entire apartment covered in trash and debris, including dog feces. The stove was on with an empty, seared pan on the hot burner. There was no food except dry noodles and sauce, and no formula for the baby. When Gysbers' sister used her own baby's formula to feed the 6-month-old he was so hungry he drank four bottles.
Neighbors report the children often wander the halls of the apartment building alone and knock on people's doors begging for food. They told investigators that said Gysbers has a regular history of leaving the children alone to fend for themselves. The defendant's oldest son shared the same information.
Gysbers was located at the home of her boyfriend's mother. Investigators say instead of returning home to take care of her three children she was using a computer to see if there had been arrest warrants issued for her. She was taken to the Ramsey County Jail, where she refused to be interviewed.
