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Inept

Inept

Neighbors of Lydia Price knew long ago that there was something wrong with the woman’s home in Berwyn, Illinois. Her five kids were seldom seen out of the home and they maintained no contact with the other kids in the community. These peculiar characteristics were minute; however, compared to the overwhelming stench the home emitted. 
Price’s husband, Robert Degner, was arrested back in 2007 for home invasion—he was subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison. During the time of his arrest, Degner’s sister-in-law contacted child services asking social workers to initiate routine checks on the couple’s children. 
Apparently her request fell on deaf ears; child services didn’t even file a report. Neighbors, who were perpetually skeptical of the home, routinely contacted Berwyn police to conduct a search of the residence. But law enforcement also refused to respond, dismissing the calls as petty neighborhood quarrels. 
This all changed last week when neighbors called police to say there was a dead boy on Price’s front lawn. When police arrived, they found the body of Matthew Degner, aged 14, lying motionless in front of the home’s dilapidated porch. Upon review, a medical examiner ruled that the autistic youth died from bronchopneumonia. 
The scene went from sad to horrific when police entered the home. 
Five children, ages 12 to 18, lived in the home, alongside more than 200 animals, many of them deceased. The home was covered in feces and infested with roaches and spiders. The plumbing, refrigerator, washer and dryer were all broken. The children, due to the ridiculous population of animals, were forced to sleep on the floors, which were of course, covered in feces. 
None of the children attended school; they played second fiddle to the animals. In total, there were 109 cats, three dogs, 39 birds, a raccoon and an assortment of other rodents–most of them dead or obscenely malnourished. 
Matthew’s sisters were immediately taken by child protection services, while the 18-year old remains hospitalized with severe flu-like conditions. Price has been charged with hundreds of counts of animal cruelty, criminal neglect of a disabled child and child endangerment. 
To make matters even more disturbing, no family member has bothered to claim Matthew’s body from the morgue.