Casper O’Brien never went to school. Never had friends, a classroom, a recess. He saw a doctor exactly once in his seven years on this earth. He spent his short life in a hoarded house, his body breaking down around him — bed sores, rashes, a heart literally failing under weight he never should have carried — and not one person outside that house ever checked on him. Not CPS, not a teacher, nobody. He died November 4th, weighing 255 pounds at 4’2” tall, in a hospital bed instead of his own.

It just made the news today.

His sister Illeana is 5. When police finally walked into that house, she was found filthy, naked, hair matted in knots, also morbidly overweight. She survived what he didn’t. I don’t know what that means for the rest of her life, but I hope she gets the care she deserves.

Both parents sit in a Michigan jail now, waiting for their trial. I hope the judge throws the book at them.

These two kids existed entirely outside of anyone’s notice. No school enrollment, no pediatrician, no neighbor, no welfare check — nothing. Two small children, completely alone in plain sight, for years.