- April 26, 2024
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After a two-week investigation into the welfare of three children living inside a residence on Brelyn Place in Palm Coast, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office has arrested three people, according to a news release by the FCSO.
Lynn Marie Kulka, Michael Alan Choate and Rene Elizabeth Marchetta were arrested on Friday, July 20, after warrants were issued for their arrest on three counts of child neglect.
The FCSO initially responded to the residence on July 3 to assist the Florida Department of Children and Families, who were investigating the welfare of the children — whose ages are 4, 1 and 4 months — after the 4-month-old living at the address was brought to Florida Hospital Flagler with multiple insect bites and bone fractures.
The investigation revealed that all three children inside the residence were living in deplorable conditions. The home was infested with bugs, so severely that hundreds of cockroaches were seen crawling on the floors, walls, ceilings, cabinets and on all of the furniture, including the children’s mattresses, playpens and bassinet, according to the release.
All three children in the home were covered in multiple bug bites. The investigation further discovered that the home had no working air conditioning.
When questioned, Kulka said she had chosen not to address the air conditioning issue because she did not want the landlord to discover the living conditions inside of the home.
“This is a traumatic situation for all of the children involved,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a release. “I’m very proud of the hard work our investigators did to put this case together and thankful that the children are now safe from
these three individuals who obviously don't know how to be parents or properly care for children.”
Kulka, Choate and Marchetta were taken to the Flagler County Detention Facility with a $15,000 bond per individual. The investigation is still active and additional charges may still be pending.
