2 women face charges after police say 5 children left in unsanitary Vandergrift home

Two women are facing charges after Vandergrift police said five children were left alone for days without food or water in a home officers described in court papers as an “absolute disgrace.”

Leslie Ann Keller, 69, of Parks Township and her daughter, Heidi Lynn Beer, 35, of Vandergrift were charged this week with child endangerment. Beer faces additional counts of reckless endangerment and false reports.

The children were ages 9, 10, 14, 15 and 16, according to court papers.

While responding to another incident involving the children on July 28, borough police said one of them reported not seeing Beer for days.

A visit to the Emerson Street home where they had been living revealed deplorable conditions — urine and feces on the floors, bunk beds made of plywood, rotten food on counter tops, holes in the walls and ceiling and leaky pipes, according to court papers.

“It was very obvious that the water had not been on in a long time,” Officer Bethany Allera wrote in the complaint.

Keller told authorities that she was aware of the house’s condition, but hadn’t gone inside in months because she described it as “too gross.”

Police said the children kept their clothing in an abandoned house next door.

Dogs and a cat were removed from the home and the Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau was called in to help, police said.

Charges against Keller were sent by summons, according to court records. A Sept. 9 preliminary hearing is set.

A warrant was issued for Beer’s arrest.

The children told police she was living with a boyfriend in Pittsburgh. During a conversation with police, she claimed to be in West Virginia and lived only at the Vandergrift home, according to court records.

Neither Keller nor Beer could be reached for comment. They did not have attorneys listed in online court records.