Kids left home alone on
Thanksgiving

Enon, Ohio (WDTN) - Two Clark County children woke up to an empty house on Thanksgiving Day, only to find a note from their father saying good-bye. Authorities say, the note stated the father was leaving for Florida to "see about a job", and would return sometime next week. Later, the 11-year-old boy told detectives his father had woken him up to tell him he was leaving to meet up with a woman he met on the internet.

The brothers, 11 and 15-years-old, woke up in their cold apartment on Conway Drive to find the good-bye note on a table, and a burned turkey in the oven. Their father had left the turkey in the oven so the boys would have something to eat on Thanksgiving Day, but the boys did not know how to turn the oven off.

Rita Arrowwood immediately came to the rescue of her two nephews when she heard the news. "They don't have any gas, there's no heat, no hot water. It's been that way for about nine months now," said Arrowwood. Arrowwood said Mays had not paid his utility bills for months, so the boys had were not able to shower and were living in a cold apartment, sometimes with no food.

Neighbors told 2 News they were familiar with the boy's living condition and would often try to help them. Some would actually leave food for them on the doorstep.

"The kids have to come over here to take showers," said Jenny Ziegler, their next door neighbor. "There's been times where one little boy would come over and ask for money to go to the drive through or the store. We fed them several times but, what can you do you know. I just feel bad for them," added Ziegler.

Now, with both their mom and dad missing, relatives hope a juvenile court judge will see this as the last straw and award them custody they have been fighting to get for months.

"Isn't a parent responsible for anything? It seems like they'd take a dog away from somebody sooner than take a kid away. Apparently parents have ultimate rights and can do whatever they want with kids," said Arrowwood.

Authorities say Mays could face charges of child endangering. Right now, the boys are staying in Tipp City with their aunt.