32-pound 10-year-old found locked in Mo. closet

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Authorities say a 10-year-old Kansas City girl who weighed just 32 pounds was found locked in a closet that reeked of urine.

Prosecutors filed charges of assault and child abuse and endangerment against the girl's 29-year-old mother Saturday in Jackson County Circuit Court. The Associated Press is not naming the mother to protect the child's identity.

Officers freed the girl from the closet after responding Friday morning to a call to a child abuse hotline. The mother was arrested later after she was found with two younger children.

The other two children appeared healthy and have been placed in protective custody. Court documents say the mother wouldn't let the 10-year-old leave the house because she knows the girl is malnourished and would "get in trouble if someone saw her."