Parents charged after their children found walking alone in rain

Two parents in Marble Hill, Missouri, were charged with three counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child after three of their children were found walking alone in the rain Wednesday, police said.

A passerby brought the three children -- ages 9, 7 and 6 -- to the Bollinger County sheriff's office about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday after she picked them up because of worsening weather conditions, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed by sheriff's Cpl. William Forkum.

The children identified their parents as Jeremy J. Green, 41, and Cora D. Long-Green, 31, Forkum wrote. Long-Green inquired about her children and came to the sheriff's office, according to the statement.

Long-Green said she got into an argument with Green when they were driving back from Jackson after Long-Green's car broke down, Forkum wrote. She then got out of Green's vehicle with her 14-year-old daughter and walked along Bollinger County Road 320 before getting a ride with another person back to town, according to the statement.

Green told sheriff's deputies Long-Green instructed him to "do something with the kids because she couldn't handle them arguing," Forkum wrote.

Green left the three children at a house on Bollinger County Road 802 without electricity, water or food and told them to wait for their mother, according to the statement.

The children decided to walk to another residence in Marble Hill because they were scared and had nothing to eat or drink, Forkum wrote. The children walked about two miles in the rain, according to the statement. Green and Long-Green agreed to give deputies urine samples, and they tested positive for marijuana and methamphetamine, Forkum wrote.

Long-Green was arrested Wednesday, and Green was arrested Thursday. Their bonds were both set at $10,000 cash or surety.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

Bollinger County Road 320, Marble Hill, MO

Bollinger County Road 802, Marble Hill, MO