VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — A Superior Court hearing is scheduled next Thursday to decide temporary placement for two autistic boys who Vancouver police say were kept locked in a darkened room.
The boys’ father John Eckhart and his girlfriend Alayna Higdon were arrested Tuesday for investigation of second-degree criminal mistreatment and unlawful imprisonment.
The boys’ mother, Jona Bronson of Tillamook, Ore., has said she’ll try to regain custody of the children — ages 5 and 7.
Superior Court Commissioner Carin Schienberg told The Columbian in an email Friday that two of the four children who lived in the same apartment are with relatives and the other two are in foster care. All are under the supervision of Child Protective Services.