Heartbreaking note written by child who was left to live alone for a YEAR in a squalid home with seven dogs after her parents moved to Florida without her
By Kelly Garino
Daily Mail
Jan 13, 2026
A teenage girl abandoned in a dirty Alabama mobile home for nearly a year tragically kept a letter tallying the 87 times her mother said she couldn't come pick her up (pictured)
A teenage girl abandoned in a dirty Alabama mobile home for nearly a year tragically kept a letter tallying the 87 times her mother said she couldn't come pick her up.
Marchelle Lynn Pertilla and her husband, Eugene Medrano, are facing child abuse charges after investigators found that they moved to Florida last year, leaving their 14-year-old daughter and seven dogs behind, according to Fox 10 News.
Investigators said the child was living in filth - surrounded by urine, feces, roaches and trash - when they searched the mobile home, where one dog was also found dead in a closet.
Investigators also found a heartbreaking pencil-written letter by the girl, titled, 'How many times mom tells me that she can't pick me up!' with more than 80 tally marks filling the page.
'It's a horrific case,' Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said, according to WEAR News.
'This is physical abuse, but I would say it's more emotional abuse, you know,' he added.
'For a child that age - because I have one not too much younger than that - I can't imagine the emotional part of just knowing your parents just leave you to fend for yourself.'
The investigation was triggered earlier this month after Dollar General employees noticed a young girl stumbling along a road in Mobile County.
Investigators said the child was living in filth - surrounded by urine, feces, roaches and trash - when they searched the mobile home, where one dog was also found dead in a closet
Employee Jessica Smitherman remembered the girl and her younger brother, who would occasionally come to the store for snacks, though she admitted it had been months since they had last been there.
'She said that her stomach hurt,' Smitherman told WEAR. 'She kept saying her stomach was hurting, that she passes out a lot.'
According to staffers, it was painfully obvious from her appearance and demeanor that the girl needed medical attention and had been living in deplorable conditions for some time. Concerned, they called 911.
'She had looked like she hadn't had a bath in months, she had dog hair all over her clothes and she smelled very bad. She was staggering,' Smitherman told Fox 10.
'I could definitely tell something was wrong, so I sat her down in a chair outside the store and started asking her some questions, asking her if I can call her mom, if there was anything I could do,' she added.
'She ended up saying she wanted me to call an ambulance.'
Responding officers found a 14-year-old girl with special needs disoriented, dizzy and in pain, leading to her transfer to a local hospital for treatment, according to WEAR.
While being treated by medical staff, she revealed to detectives that she had been living alone since around her 14th birthday last February and had been supposedly homeschooled.
Haunting images captured the devastating state of the girl's living space: floors coated in dirt, feces and bugs, a tub of dark brown water, and debris and clothes littering every room
The investigation began earlier this month after Dollar General employees saw a young girl stumbling along a road in Mobile County, clearly in need of medical attention and having lived in deplorable conditions for some time
She revealed that her mother and stepfather had left for Vivian Drive in the Brent area of Escambia County, Pensacola, Florida - an hour away - and that Halloween of last year had been the last time she saw them.
The child told authorities that she stayed in contact with her mother through Snapchat, relying on her for food delivered via DoorDash or Walmart.
'It's another example of a parent not being a parent,' Sheriff Burch told WEAR News.
The revelation prompted the sheriff's office and Prichard Animal Control to get a search warrant, where they then combed through the single-wide trailer on January 5.
Haunting images captured the devastating state of the girl's living space: floors coated in dirt, feces and bugs, a tub of dark brown water, and debris and clothes littering every room - even her bed.
Investigators found one dog dead in a closet, while Prichard Animal Control rescued the remaining six from the property.
The gut-wrenching note, slightly torn and written on a folded sheet of lined notebook paper, was also found near where the girl slept.
When detectives located the couple at the hospital, they appeared to downplay the severity of the situation and instead, blamed the teen's alleged 'unwillingness' to leave Alabama, according to WEAR.
The gut-wrenching note, slightly torn and written on a folded sheet of lined notebook paper, was found near where the girl slept
Her mother said that their daughter was left alone only because she didn’t want to leave her two service animals, though it remains unclear whether any of the dogs in the mobile home were actually trained service dogs
Since their detainment, investigators said two other children who had lived with the couple in Florida have been removed from their care
Her mother said that their daughter was left alone only because she didn’t want to leave her two service animals, though it remains unclear whether any of the dogs in the mobile home were actually trained service dogs.
'A 14-year-old doesn’t get to make that decision if you’re a parent,' Burch told Fox 10. 'The parents should have stepped up and did the right thing.'
Pertilla and Medrano, both employed in Pensacola, were arrested on charges of child abuse and several counts of animal cruelty and booked into the Mobile County Metro Jail.
Since their detainment, investigators said two other children who had lived with the couple in Florida have been removed from their care, according to WEAR.
Burch noted that the teenage girl has spent the last few weeks in DHR’s care and is finally receiving the help she so desperately needed.
While the case remains under investigation, he praised the Dollar General employees for trusting their instincts and calling for emergency help when they sensed something was wrong, according to AZ Family.
'We are continuing to search for answers on why this young girl was living alone and whether or not others tried calling law enforcement,' Burch said, as reported by the outlet.
'Thank goodness for the employee with Dollar General who contacted the county, and we were able to respond,' he added.
'If you see something, say something. It could mean the difference between life and death.'
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