Daryl Parker

Police officers at an Austin apartment find a severely malnourished 7-year-old girl who is barricaded in a bedroom closet.

The child is found soiled, weighing just 29 pounds, and has been confined to a 3-foot by 2-foot closet space for approximately a month.

Investigators find the child has been given one corndog and a half a cup of water a day.

Doctors at Dell Children's Medical Center determine the little girl is suffering moderate to severe cerebral atrophy from prolonged malnutrition, damage from which she will never recover.

Six other children in the apartment ranging in age from two to 14 years old are found to be in apparently good physical condition.

The apartment's pantry, refrigerator, and freezer are stocked with various food items.

The oldest children were given strict orders to put the little girl in the closet because she had bladder control issues and she was trying to eat things she wasn't supposed to.

During the investigation, police learned there's an eighth child, Ava Marie, who is not in the home with the other children.

Yeah, Nancy, that's pretty concerning.

I know that the mom has already made several statements to police that are inconsistent about the child that is missing already that they already know about.

And it'll be interesting to see if

Some follow-up questioning can reveal anything about this ninth child, possible ninth child.

A shocking discovery inside a home leads police to investigate a long-buried secret.

Learning there should be eight children in the apartment, not just the seven they found, police opened an investigation and quickly determined Ava Marie has not been seen by family or friends since she was two years old in 2017 in custody of her mother, Virginia Gonzalez.

Considering the condition of Ava's seven-year-old sister when she was found,

Austin police detectives are very concerned about Ava's welfare.

Well, you know, Nancy, I see a lot of parallels between this case and the Casey Anthony case.

And if you recall, the thing that really bogged down that investigation was Casey Anthony's multiple stories where she gave the police all these different versions of what happened to her child.

And so in this case, I think the mom has given them some inconsistent stories.

They're going to have to track these down.