Police: Florida Woman Left Boy Alone Without Food, Water For 9 Days

MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) -- A Florida woman is accused of leaving a boy in a dirty home without running water, food or electricity for nine days.

Escambia County Sheriff's deputies arrested Autumn Lee Beede, 39, on Saturday.

Investigators conducted a welfare check on February 14 at a home in Cantonment, which is near Pensacola, an arrest report said.

A neighbor told deputies that the child had been alone in the home since Feb. 5, the Pensacola News Journal reported. A second person told authorities the child had asked him for water and he observed a home that wasn't suitable for a child when he took bottles of water to the residence.

The child's name, age, and relationship to Beede were redacted from the arrest report. The arrest report said the boy told investigators he'd been living with a man at the home until Feb. 5, when that man was arrested. He said the electricity had been cut off for non-payment.

The boy told authorities he survived by going to neighbors' homes to ask for food, the report said.

He also told investigators that Beede had left pastries on the porch on the morning of Feb. 14, but didn't come inside.

He said a friend told him Beede had dropped off the food for him.

Beede, who faces child neglect charges, was released from jail on Sunday. An attorney wasn't listed on court records.

The report didn't say where the child is now living.

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)