ROSS COUNTY, Ohio — The Ross County Sheriff’s Office has provided additional details regarding the discovery of two young children found walking alone in the Pleasant Valley Trailer Park.
As previously reported by The Guardian yesterday afternoon, a resident of the trailer park contacted the Sheriff’s Office upon finding the two children wandering unaccompanied along Apolla Lane. The concerned caller took the children to their own residence, awaiting the arrival of law enforcement.
Upon reaching the scene, the initial responding deputy observed that the children appeared to be under the age of 5 and were unable to provide their names or home address. The deputy proceeded to conduct a door-to-door search in an attempt to locate the parents. After nearly 30 minutes, authorities spotted a man running towards them on Apollo Lane. This individual was later identified as Terry Rutter, who stated that his two daughters, aged 3 and 2, were missing. After being shown a picture of the found children, Rutter confirmed their identity.
During questioning, deputies discovered that Rutter, who claimed to be disabled and not employed, was responsible for caring for the children while their mother was at work. Rutter stated that the front door of their residence had been locked, and he was unsure how it became opened. Child Protective Services investigators were also present at the scene and, with Rutter’s consent, conducted a safety inspection of the residence. The investigators reported that the home appeared to be in order, with the only safety concerns being a .22 caliber handgun found on a bedroom nightstand and a marijuana pipe.
When questioned about his failure to respond when deputies knocked on the door, Rutter explained that he had taken prescribed sleeping medication, which resulted in him not hearing law enforcement’s arrival.
Terry Rutter has been cited with two counts of endangering children and has been issued a summons with a mandatory court appearance.
All the information provided in this article was sourced from reports provided by the Ross County Sheriff’s Office.