A GIRL was found dead after her adoptive mother tied her to the garage door, beat her and starved her mercilessly, police said.
Diane Mack, 34, allegedly left her 13-year-old daughter’s near-naked corpse in their Florida home for hours before finally calling the police.
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Diane Mack, a 34-year-old former employee of the Florida Department of Children and Families, has been arrested and charged with the murder of her adopted daughter Credit: Highlands County Sheriff’s Office
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The Highlands County Sheriff’s Department found the body of a 13-year-old girl Friday morning wearing nothing but a diaperCredit: Highlands County Sheriff’s Office
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Mack is accused of beating, starving and locking her daughter in the garage of their home Credit: Highlands County Sheriff’s Office
When the first crews arrived, they found “one of the most disturbing crime scenes I’ve come across in more than 30 years of law enforcement,” Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman said.
“There are no words that can truly convey the nightmare that this child’s life must have been.”
Officers were called to Mack’s home in the Sun ‘n Lake neighborhood of Sebring, about two hours south of Orlando, just after midnight Friday morning. Her daughter was dead when they arrived.
Mack was unable to explain to the officers what had happened. At one point she said the girl collapsed on Thursday morning, but later said it happened in the afternoon.
Either way, after the little girl passed out, the mom made the outrageous decision to drive her four children to Titusville, about two hours away.
When she returned, she finally decided to call the police.
When sheriff’s deputies entered the home, they immediately noticed disturbing signs of abuse.
Detectives believe the home-schooled teenager was chained callously in the home’s garage and watched by cameras pointed at her prison-like room.
The girl was badly starved, with scars and fresh wounds, including pressure ulcers, covering her entire body.
Officers say Mack tried to use chlorine in the garage pool to clean it and hide the horrible conditions in which she kept her daughter.
They are still investigating how long the helpless teenager was held captive.
Sheriff Blackman shared his shock and horror after learning that Mack is a former Department of Children and Families employee.
She served as a guardian in litem, which is someone appointed by the court to protect children who could not help themselves.
“That someone whose job it was to look after the welfare of children could treat their own child like that is just unbelievable,” he said.
Who is Diane Mack?
DIANE Mack is a former child services worker who has been arrested and charged with the alleged murder of her adopted daughter.
On November 15, officers came to Mack’s home in Highlands County, Florida and found the body of a 13-year-old girl.
They said she was wearing nothing but a diaper and had sores all over.
She also appeared to be very hungry.
Detectives believe the girl was being held in the garage of the home and was being watched by cameras installed in the room.
Mack has been charged with first-degree murder and child abuse and is being held in jail without bond.
“To see a child treated this way is not only heartbreaking, but infuriating.”
NEIGHBORHOOD HORROR
Neighbors in the community were devastated when they heard the news and expressed their dismay at the tragedy.
“Totally shocked, I can’t believe it,” David Mullikin told NBC affiliate WFLA.
Mullkin knew most of the children who lived in the home, but he rarely saw Mack.
“I saw the little girls who lived there. They go up and down the street on their bikes almost every day,” he said.
“Actually, I haven’t seen them do that lately. I had no idea there was a 13-year-old in that house.”
Mullikin spoke with police Friday morning after emergency responders blocked his driveway. They asked if the neighbors had noticed anything strange in the house.
After searching the home, officers allegedly found disturbing notes that appeared to be written by children as a form of punishment, Mack’s arrest warrant said.
In one note, the child wrote down behaviors that would make mom “slap her ass.”
And another note talks about how choices can have dire consequences, like getting kicked out of the house.
I had no idea there was a 13-year-old in that house
David Mullikin Diane Mack’s neighbor
Mack was arrested and charged with first degree murder, child abuse, kidnapping and destroying evidence.
She was seen looking down in a striped jumpsuit as an officer led her to the Highlands County Jail, where she is being held without bail.
Sheriff Blackman described the situation as “horrific” and said “no amount of law enforcement experience” could have prepared them for what they saw.
“I can assure you that we will do everything in our power to ensure justice for this child,” he said.
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Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman said it was one of the worst crime scenes he had seen in 30 yearsCredit: Highlands County Sheriff’s Office
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