It's Just Heartbreaking': Mother Hid 32-Pound 10-Year-Old in Urine-Soaked Closet

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (The Blaze/AP) -- A Kansas City woman is scheduled to appear in court after police found her 10-year-old daughter weighing just 32 pounds and locked in a closet that reeked of urine.

To put the child's weight into perspective, the the average height for a 10-year-old is 54 inches with a corresponding average weight of 72 pounds, according to Live Strong.

Police freed the girl Friday in response to a call from a child abuse hotline. The child has been hospitalized, but her condition hasn't been released.

The Jackson County prosecutor's office says the 29-year-old mother, Jacole N. Prince, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on charges of assault, child abuse and endangerment. It's unclear if she has a lawyer.

A probable cause statement says the mother told police she didn't let the girl leave the house because the child is malnourished and that she would "get in trouble if someone saw her."

The local Fox affiliate reports neighbors saying they hadn't even realized Prince had another daughter and referenced suspicious activity:

“Every time we do go to Jacole’s house, we would knock on the door, tell her to come out, see what she’s doing,” said Peaches Burrell, neighbor. “She wouldn’t open the door all the way. She would come out and shut the door behind her.”

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“Knowing that I lived in the middle of where the little girl was — it’s just heartbreaking,” Burrell said.

Neighbors wonder why Prince’ boyfriend, Marcus Benson, has not been charged. They claim Benson was at the apartment often visiting his two daughters he fathered with Prince and he should’ve known something was going on.

“He was always over here, took showers and baths, ironed, all that, so how come he didn’t know?” Burrell said.

In an earlier story by Fox, neighbor Kimberly Kelly described Prince as quiet and said her two other children, who she knew of, were clean and "seemed to have fun."

The girl, who is referenced in documents as "LP" according to Fox, told police she didn't get to eat every day. She also told police she does not want to go back home.

Watch the Fox report:

Prince also has a 2-year-old and 8-year-old daughters who are in protective custody now.