Police find three-year-old girl locked inside plywood box

Nine people in the US have been charged with child abuse-related offences after a three-year-old girl was found locked inside a small wooden box in Indiana.

Officers from the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office searched a property last Wednesday after reports of child abuse.

They found the girl locked inside a plywood box in the living room of a property in North Judson, in Indiana's north.

Inside the box was a soiled thin foam mattress, several dirty items of clothing and dead bugs.

It wasn't clear why the girl was being locked inside the box.

Police found multiple adults inside the home, inside cars parked outside the home and in a nearby camper.

"Nobody spoke up about a little girl in the box. Even as we were taking them out of the house, no one spoke up and said, 'Hey, there's a little girl over here in a box,'" Sheriff Jeff Richwine told WSBT.

Donna Short, 42, Christopher Short, 25, and Patricia Meeks, 18, were all charged with neglect of a dependent.

Michael Meeks, 19, Thelma Meeks, 38, Derrick Butala, 36, Shawn Griffin, 18, Anna Senesac, 19, and Timothy Senesac, 18, were all charged with failure to report child abuse.

The three-year-old girl and five other children are now in the care of the Department of Child Services.