Pennsylvania Mother and Grandmother Charged After Children Found Living in Filthy Home Without Food or Water

Authorities in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, discovered children living in squalid conditions, leading to the arrest of their mother and grandmother. The home lacked food and water, while the mother resided with her boyfriend elsewhere.

By Savage RoyalT | August 6, 2025 | SavageRoyalT.com

VANDERGRIFT, PA — A mother and grandmother from rural Pennsylvania are facing serious charges after police say multiple children were left to live in dangerous, filthy conditions without food or running water. Heidi Lynn Beer, 35, and her mother, Leslie Ann Keller, 69, are both charged with five felony counts of endangering the welfare of children as a parent or guardian. Beer also faces five misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of making a false report. The arrests came on July 28, when Vandergrift Borough police responded to a report of a fight but found far more troubling circumstances inside the home on Emerson Street. Officers reported a strong odor coming from the property, and upon entering, had to avoid stepping on large piles of feces, rotten food, and pools of urine on the floors. The water had not been on for some time, the shower spigot was broken off, and the children’s beds consisted of deflated air mattresses or plywood bunks. Holes in the ceiling and walls added to the dangerous environment.

Four children, ages 9, 10, 14, and 16, were inside. The oldest told police their mother had been gone for days and that they had no food or water at the house. Investigators learned the children survived on free school lunches during the week and sometimes collected water in empty cat litter containers from their grandmother’s house, which was about a mile away. Keller allegedly admitted she had not gone inside the home for months because it was “too gross,” but was aware of the lack of food and water. At one point, Keller reportedly yelled at the 16-year-old for not cleaning up, prompting an officer to remind her it was not the children’s responsibility to deal with the “absolute disgrace of a mess.”

Police say Beer had been staying with her boyfriend, John Kenny, in Pittsburgh, about 50 minutes away. According to court records, Kenny allegedly told Beer to leave her children so he could “give her a new and better life without them,” and he was also accused of being physically abusive toward the children. During the investigation, Beer claimed she lived only at the Vandergrift home, but authorities say this was untrue.

Beer was taken into custody and is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on a $20,000 bond, with a preliminary hearing set for August 12. Keller’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 9, and her charges were filed by summons. The children have since been placed in the care of other family members, and several animals, including dogs and a cat, were removed from the home by authorities. The Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau is now involved in their case.