(Photos) 3 year old girl found locked inside tiny wooden box full of dead bugs

 Authorities were stunned after a 3-year-old girl in Indiana was found locked inside a wooden box.

Officers with the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office found the disturbing scene after executing a search warrant at the North Judson home last week.Sheriff Jeffrey Richwine told WNDU.

"Never seen anything like this,"  "It's one of those deals, you go there and think, 'hopefully this is not true.'" Nobody's going to have a small girl in a box, that's just not going to happen. And you go there, when they say it, you just don't believe it, you're thinking, 'my god, who would do this?'"

 I've seen people treat their animals better," the girl's grandfather Frank Jackson told the station. "It's like a nightmare and I wish I'd wake up."

Donna Short, 42, Christopher Short, 25, and 18-year-old Patricia Meeks face neglect charges. Six other people, including four teenagers, are accused of failing to report child abuse.

Donna Short the girl's stepmother

The box would on occasion be locked so the little girl could not get out, according to authorities.Donna Short claimed that the girl decided to "stay in the box all night," according to the station.

Christopher Short, who is the child's father, said she would go in and out of the box on her own,ackson said he has rarely been allowed to see his grandchildren since his daughter, the child's mother, passed away, according to the station.

"What kind of health issues are my grandkids going to have later in the future because of this?" he told WNDU. "It could affect them for life. I pray not. We would love and care for them kids in a flat minute."

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