MACCLENNY, Fla. -- Three resort employees are being credited with saving the life of a 7-year-old boy who was found weighing 37 pounds after apparently being tied to a wall and denied food by his guardian and her domestic partner, police said.
Investigators said the boy was recently discovered wandering around a Westgate Resort parking lot in Kissimmee disoriented and with visible injuries.
After speaking with the boy, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office was notified
Investigators said the boy claims he was kicked in the stomach, tied to a wall and denied food.
"From a long-term child abuse situation, I believe this might be the worst one I've seen," Sheriff Joey Dobson said. "How in the world you could do this to a cute little 7-year-old boy?"
Authorities said the women, Suzette Stevenson, 45, and Jamie Lynn Martin, 26, apparently drugged the boy and left him in a car while they checked out a time-share property.
The boy likely faced death if the employees would not have discovered him, officers said.
"We believe the actions of these three individuals saved this child's life," said Department of Children and Families representative Don Winstead said. "I applaud them for recognizing the signs of physical abuse and immediately notifying law enforcement. They're heroes. Without their quick response who knows where this little boy would be today."
The child was hospitalized in Central Florida and has been upgraded from critical to serious condition, officials said. When he recovers, he will be released to the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Stevenson and Martin were charged with aggravated child abuse.
According to the Baker County Sheriff's Office, Stevenson and her partner moved from California to Macclenny in 2005.
Stevenson was being held in the Baker County jail on $100,000 bond; Martin was transferred to the Columbia County jail, where she was held on $75,000 bond.
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