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Children Found Alone, Police Say

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By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 16, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - Detectives serving a search warrant Friday at a home on 610 Newton Ave. S. did not find the suspect they were looking for but discovered two young children left alone in the house.

A 23-month-old girl and a 9-month-old boy were found after detectives knocked on the front door and heard what sounded like young children inside, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said.

Two kitchen knives were on the floor and two space heaters had been left on, detectives said. While authorities were trying to determine who was responsible for the children, Erica D. Collins, 22, arrived at the house after about an hour, the sheriff's office said.

Collins told detectives she had left the children in the care of another person but authorities could not confirm her story, the sheriff's office said. Collins is related to the children, but it was not known what that relation is, according to the sheriff's office.

Collins was arrested on two counts of child neglect and taken to the Pinellas County Jail, where bail was set at $20,000. The sheriff's child protection investigation division took custody of the children.

The suspect detectives were seeking in connection with the arrest warrant was a previous resident of the house and no longer lived there, detectives said.

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