bigwavedave
Deceased
Idaho Children Taken to Hospital
Updated: Sat, Jun 02 9:53 PM EDT
By JOHN K. WILEY, Associated Press Writer
GARFIELD BAY, Idaho (AP) - Five children left their isolated home Saturday evening after a five-day stalemate with sheriff's deputies.
The children were seen riding past sheriff's barricades in a large sport-utility vehicle at about 6 p.m. Saturday. They were taken to a hospital in nearby Sandpoint, where officials said they were in good condition and had no injuries.
"They're in very good shape," said Susan Montgomery, director of nursing. She said she didn't know whether they would be hospitalized overnight.
The children had been speaking to two negotiators most of the day on Saturday, Sheriff's Sgt. Rob Rahn said. He identified them only as family members and close friends of the children.
The children and a 15-year-old brother who surrendered to authorities Thursday withdrew to the house on Tuesday, when their mother, JoAnn McGuckin, was arrested for child neglect. Their father died May 12.
After the mother's arrest, Bonner County sheriff's deputies returned to the home about 10 miles south of here to take the children into state custody. But they withdrew after 15-year-old Benjamin McGuckin yelled "Get the guns!" and the children unleashed more than two dozen dogs.
The family became increasingly reclusive as financial hardships increased after father Michael McGuckin was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. His death was attributed to dehydration and malnutrition, complicated by his illness.
Residents said the family was suspicious of the government and had refused help from neighbors concerned about their living conditions.
Walled off from the outside world by fear, trees and the dogs, the children at the house were incommunicado until Friday, when they spoke with their mother's court-appointed attorney and authorities.
Rahn and the lawyer, Bryce Powell, refused to say whether Benjamin McGuckin or his mother participated in talks. The children were given food and water during Friday's "long period" of contact, he said.
Still in the home were Kathryn, 16; Mary, 13; James, 11; Frederick, 9; and Jane, 8.
An older sister Erina, 19, who left the house after an earlier falling-out with her parents, had been working with authorities. Her concerns formed the basis of the neglect charge against JoAnn McGuckin, who was held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Benjamin apparently had been outside for some time - perhaps since Tuesday - and his five siblings were probably unaware he had turned himself in, Robinson said. He was in temporary "shelter care" provided by the state Department of Health and Welfare.
By all accounts, the family had been relatively prosperous until their sawmill business went bankrupt in the 1980s. The family has rejected offers of help.
The home was sold at auction last year to cover unpaid back taxes, but the McGuckins stayed on under arrangements that remain unclear, officials said.
JoAnn McGuckin refused to seek state aid as she grew increasingly paranoid about the government, local relief workers say. Her husband's body could not be buried for two weeks because she would not complete the county's indigent forms, The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane, Wash., reported Saturday.
Updated: Sat, Jun 02 9:53 PM EDT
By JOHN K. WILEY, Associated Press Writer
GARFIELD BAY, Idaho (AP) - Five children left their isolated home Saturday evening after a five-day stalemate with sheriff's deputies.
The children were seen riding past sheriff's barricades in a large sport-utility vehicle at about 6 p.m. Saturday. They were taken to a hospital in nearby Sandpoint, where officials said they were in good condition and had no injuries.
"They're in very good shape," said Susan Montgomery, director of nursing. She said she didn't know whether they would be hospitalized overnight.
The children had been speaking to two negotiators most of the day on Saturday, Sheriff's Sgt. Rob Rahn said. He identified them only as family members and close friends of the children.
The children and a 15-year-old brother who surrendered to authorities Thursday withdrew to the house on Tuesday, when their mother, JoAnn McGuckin, was arrested for child neglect. Their father died May 12.
After the mother's arrest, Bonner County sheriff's deputies returned to the home about 10 miles south of here to take the children into state custody. But they withdrew after 15-year-old Benjamin McGuckin yelled "Get the guns!" and the children unleashed more than two dozen dogs.
The family became increasingly reclusive as financial hardships increased after father Michael McGuckin was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. His death was attributed to dehydration and malnutrition, complicated by his illness.
Residents said the family was suspicious of the government and had refused help from neighbors concerned about their living conditions.
Walled off from the outside world by fear, trees and the dogs, the children at the house were incommunicado until Friday, when they spoke with their mother's court-appointed attorney and authorities.
Rahn and the lawyer, Bryce Powell, refused to say whether Benjamin McGuckin or his mother participated in talks. The children were given food and water during Friday's "long period" of contact, he said.
Still in the home were Kathryn, 16; Mary, 13; James, 11; Frederick, 9; and Jane, 8.
An older sister Erina, 19, who left the house after an earlier falling-out with her parents, had been working with authorities. Her concerns formed the basis of the neglect charge against JoAnn McGuckin, who was held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Benjamin apparently had been outside for some time - perhaps since Tuesday - and his five siblings were probably unaware he had turned himself in, Robinson said. He was in temporary "shelter care" provided by the state Department of Health and Welfare.
By all accounts, the family had been relatively prosperous until their sawmill business went bankrupt in the 1980s. The family has rejected offers of help.
The home was sold at auction last year to cover unpaid back taxes, but the McGuckins stayed on under arrangements that remain unclear, officials said.
JoAnn McGuckin refused to seek state aid as she grew increasingly paranoid about the government, local relief workers say. Her husband's body could not be buried for two weeks because she would not complete the county's indigent forms, The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane, Wash., reported Saturday.