Police said if they didn’t get the call to respond to a drug overdose, they may have never known the conditions three children were living in. 

 

“It was probably one of the worst homes that I have seen in my 20 years here at the Altoona police department,” said Lt. Jeff Pratt of the Altoona Police Department. 

 

Lt. Pratt said the conditions in the home weren’t just deplorable, they were revolting. 

 

“Just about every nightmarish scenario you can think of when it comes to giving a proper environment to raise children in.”

 

Altoona police were called out with AMED to the 4700 block of 6th Avenue around 8 p.m. Saturday night. 

 

Officers thought they were walking into a house to handle a female with a drug overdose, but discovered much more. 

 

“Children should not have to sleep on bare, broken down mattresses on the floor without pillows or sheets or anything else along those lines,” Pratt said.

 

The 17-, 11-, and 7-year-old children lived among piles of trash, dirty laundry and dishes, rotten food and hundreds – if not thousands – of dead bugs. 

 

“There are economically disadvantaged or poor persons here, but in this particular day and age there’s no reason to live in filth such as that.”

 

Blair County Children, Youth and Family Services were quickly called in to investigate. They have since placed the children in a relative’s custody. 

 

“It’s hard for me to really believe if these folks were in dire need of social service assistance that that wouldn’t have been afforded to them had it just been asked for,” Pratt said.

 

Kristin Dixon and Edward Armstrong were taken into custody for endangering the welfare of children They were arraigned and are currently out on $10,000 unsecured bail each as they wait for their preliminary hearings.