Two children were found locked inside a barn in West Virginia without any running water or bathroom facilities and their adoptive parents are now facing felony child neglect charges, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office says.
An investigation was launched Monday just before 6 p.m. after authorities received a 911 call regarding the welfare of the children, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
A sheriff’s deputy went to the barn in Sissonville and forced her way inside to find a boy and girl in the 20-foot by 14-foot room, the release said.
The children were locked inside without access to water, a bathroom, food or adequate hygienic care items, authorities said. At the main residence, another small child was found locked inside alone, the release stated.
Native speakers of the English language: By reading the headline did you know exactly who was locked in the barn? And if yes, tell me, a non native speaker, by which rule do I have to read headlines like this to not be totally confused. (I thought the parents were the ones who got locked until I read the headline a third time.)
Edit: Thank you for all the input and thoughts
Look at the mug shot and interpret for the worst case - the kids being the ones locked in a barn.
It’s compact because it’s a headline.
You can’t tell who was locked in the barn from first part of the headline but when you read the bit about them being charged it can only refer to the parents, so the “locked in a barn” bit must be describing the kids and not the parents.
I think the headline needs a comma or two
in context, it was clear.
but if you were scrolling and only saw up to ‘… west virginia’ to begin with…
english sure is fun!
It’s a confusing headline that forces the reader to consider context.
A better headline would have been;
The wording was bad, no doubt. I had to read it several times to make sense of the headline.
Same. I went “fuck, the poor sods somehow got themselves locked up and 'murica is being 'murica”.