Vandergrift, PA – A 35-year-old Pennsylvania mother has pleaded guilty to multiple felony counts after abandoning her four children in deplorable living conditions to move in with her boyfriend, who allegedly told her he could give her a “new and better life without them.” The case, described by police as one of the most disturbing examples of child neglect they’ve seen, has drawn public outrage across the state.
The Incident: Children Found Living in Filth and Neglect
According to Westmoreland County court records, Heidi Beer, 35, was arrested in July 2024 after police discovered her four children—aged 9 to 16—living in squalor in a Vandergrift Borough home.
Officers were originally called to the property for a domestic disturbance, but what they found inside left them horrified. A strong odor filled the home, and officers reported having to “avoid stepping on large feces droppings, rotten food, and pooled urine” throughout the residence.
Court documents revealed that the home had no running water, the shower spigot was broken off, and air mattresses served as the children’s only beds. Holes in the ceiling and decaying food added to what officers described as an “absolute disgrace of a mess.”…