Toddlers found in sleeping in Marble Hill yard in state custody

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Two Illinois boys, ages 4 and 2, spent the weekend in the custody of the Division of Family Services and will remain in its custody until a court hearing is held Wednesday.

Marble Hill police spent Friday looking for the mother of the two boys, who were found around 5 a.m. Friday sleeping in a yard on Hopkins Street about two houses away from where they had been staying. The homeowner notified police, then brought the boys inside, wrapped them in blankets and gave them something to eat.

The older boy was found wearing pants, a shirt and a light jacket, and the younger one was wearing a shirt, jacket and a diaper, said Marble Hill police chief Dennis Willis. One child had with him a small backpack containing diapers and a few other items. The boys knew only their first names, their mother's first name and the color of her car.

The boys' mother did not surface until Friday afternoon. According to a report from Willis' office, the mother, Amanda K. McHughs of McClure, Ill., brought her children with her Thursday to visit her friend, Alicia Rhodes of Bollinger County. They dropped the boys off Thursday afternoon with Rhodes' grandmother, Irene Keith, said to be in her 80s, of 101 Crest St., telling her they'd be back for them by 1 a.m.

Keith reportedly told police that she had told one of the women in a phone conversation after 1 a.m. that the children were asleep, and she was going to bed because she had been up a long time. She said she would leave the door unlocked so they could come in and pick up the children.

During the evening, Willis said, McHughs and Rhodes became separated and McHughs couldn't find Rhodes. McHughs had never been to Marble Hill before and didn't know how to get to Keith's residence to collect her children.

"They finally met up again around 10 or 11 Friday morning," Willis said. "They went to [Keith's] house and she thought they already got the kids."

Willis said that DFS has taken over the case and is continuing the investigation.

Pertinent address:

Hopkins Street, Marble Hill, MO