An Alabama couple is facing charges following the discovery of a 14-year-old girl who had been left alone for an extended period in a mobile home. The situation came to light when a Dollar General manager placed a 911 call.

Authorities have charged 43-year-old Marchelle Pertilla and her husband, 52-year-old Eugene Medrano, with child abuse and aggravated cruelty to animals, as reported by WKRG.

The investigation was triggered on Sunday after Jessica Smitherman, an assistant manager at Dollar General, noticed the 14-year-old girl appearing disoriented and alone in the store, according to WALA.

Smitherman recounted, “I saw her months ago with a little boy doing some grocery shopping, but there was never an adult with them,” highlighting the absence of parental supervision.

On this occasion, the girl’s appearance suggested she had gone without a bath for several months, raising further concerns about her well-being.

“She was staggering,” said Smitherman. “I could definitely tell something was wrong so I sat her down in a chair outside the store and started asking her some questions asking her if I can call her mom, if there was anything I can do. She ended up saying she wanted me to call the ambulance.”

The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation and learned that Pertilla and Medrana had moved to Pensacola nearly a year ago, leaving the girl behind because she didn’t want to leave her service dogs. The girl said her mother occasionally sent food deliveries to the home but said she hadn’t actually seen her since October.

Then investigators went to the home. They found seven dogs — one dead in a closet — and roaches, trash, feces, and, urine all over the home.

“One of the alarming things discovered during the search warrant was she had some writings that was titled how many times mom didn’t come pick me up and she had hash marks. There were 87 hash marks,” said Sheriff Paul Burch.

Burch said the dogs were taken by animal control and the girl was taken into custody by the Department of Human Resources.