When the officers arrived at the scene, they heard loud barking and screaming coming from the small trailer.
The cops knocked on the door and shouted: ”Anyone there?” They didn’t get an answer. “Police!” they screamed. The smell from inside the trailer was making them nauseous. Then, they found the source of the stink.
Mary arrived at the office and made herself a cup of coffee. Then, she turned her computer on and got to work.
The office was very quiet in the morning, and she thought she would have an easy shift. But Mary had no idea what awaited her on this fateful day.
About five minutes into her morning shift, she received a call. “911, what is your emergency?” she asked.
The silence on the other end of the phone was making her nervous. ”Hello? 911? Hello?” Mary cranked up the volume and listened carefully. Then, she heard a child’s voice.
“Momma?” a child asked. Mary was confused. Why would a small child dial 911? “Can you hear me?” she responded.
She didn’t understand what the toddler said next. ”Is your mommy or daddy there with you?” Mary asked. Then, she heard loud barking and howling on the other end.
“Hello? Do you have mommy or daddy with you?” Mary repeated. The child answered with a no.
Mary and the child couldn’t understand eachother, which made her worry. Was the toddler in danger? ”Call mommy or daddy. Tell them someone is on the phone for them, okay?” she asked.
Mary kept asking the child questions, but the responses she received weren’t helpful. She began to wonder if the toddler’s mother was injured.
“Can you stay on the phone with me and talk to me?” Mary asked as she used her computer to determine the little girl’s location. ”What’s your name? What age are you?” No response. Then, the child ended the call abruptly.
Fortunately, she had the toddler’s location. The officers arrived at an extremely dirty trailer. There were two dogs locked in a cage. The third dog was loose, and it looked very aggressive.
The officers contacted animal control before entering the home. But where was the toddler?
The officers discovered a three-year-old girl and her younger sibling inside the trailer. They looked hungry and scared, and both of their diapers were overflowing.
How long were they home alone? Where were their parents? Then, the officers saw something terrifying.
There was a loaded firearm on the coffee table. Where were their parents? How could they leave their children alone in a home with a weapon?
Finally, two hours later, the police located 26-year-old Yajaira Tirado. She told the officers that she “had only been gone for five minutes.”
She claimed that her children were already asleep when she went for a drink with her friend. However, her neighbor claimed she left the house at 7:30 AM on a golf cart.
Tirado was arrested and charged with two counts of child neglect without great bodily harm.
Her infant child and 3-year-old daughter were in state custody while the authorities tried to determine whether she was a fit mother.
If it wasn’t for Mary, who kept the little girl on the phone for over eight minutes, the children could’ve injured themselves or starved to death.
She was trained to deal with incidents like this one. Keeping the toddler on the phone for several minutes allowed her to track the call.
Mary was collected and calm the entire time and didn’t let her emotions show.
She was able to keep the child focused and prevent her from injuring herself. Tirado may have abandoned her children, but Mary didn’t.
She didn’t allow the barking and crying to keep her from doing her job and saving these children.
Sadly, what happened to these two little kids is more common than people think.
Luckily, emergency services work 24/7 to ensure people, especially children, are safe.
Mary doesn’t think what she did was a big deal. She was just doing her job.
She is just happy that the kids are safe and sound.
