The details emerging from a home on Cassel Road in Etters, Pennsylvania, read less like a custody dispute and more like a locked-room nightmare.

Three members of the Cardona family — 31-year-old Ashley Cardona, 53-year-old Lori Cardona, and 29-year-old Michael Cardona — have been arrested on multiple felony charges involving two young children who authorities say were restrained, medically neglected, and effectively hidden from the outside world for years.

According to York County District Attorney Tim Barker, the case began to unravel on March 19, 2024, when staff at WellSpan York Hospital alerted police and York County Children and Youth Services to what Barker described as “very disturbing” and “extremely serious” conditions involving a 5-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother.

What investigators say they uncovered inside the home stunned even seasoned officials.

Prosecutors allege the young girl was routinely buckled into an infant car seat for extended periods during the day — long beyond the age when such a seat would be developmentally appropriate. Her brother, meanwhile, was allegedly confined inside what Barker described as a “homemade caged crib constructed with stacked cribs, ratchet straps, zip ties, locking mechanisms.”

Authorities say the children were restrained not only while caregivers slept but also while they were absent from the home.

The boy’s alleged enclosure measured 51 inches long, 31 inches wide and 60 inches tall. According to Barker, investigators executing a search warrant on March 22 found a crib modified into a cage-like structure with external locking mechanisms. Inside, a piece of carpet had been stapled to plywood flooring. The wood and carpet reportedly smelled of urine, and what appeared to be fecal matter was caked along the railing.

Michael Cardona allegedly admitted to officers that he helped construct the structure, stacking a second crib upside down on top of the first.

A second crib was found in Ashley Cardona’s bedroom, containing a playpen that zipped open from the outside, further deepening investigators’ concerns about the children’s confinement.

Beyond the alleged physical restraint, Barker stated that the children had not left the home in approximately two years. They reportedly had not received routine medical or dental care since 2019.

Children and Youth Services visited the property multiple times between Feb. 24 and March 19, 2024. The repeated contact ultimately led to the hospital alert that triggered a full criminal investigation.

In October, an associate professor of pediatrics and member of the child protection team at Penn State Health reviewed the case. The medical professional concluded that both children were victims of medical neglect, dental neglect, nutritional neglect, and physical abuse, Barker said.

Ashley and Lori Cardona now face charges including aggravated assault involving children less than 13 years of age, aggravated assault of a victim less than six years old, false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of children. Michael Cardona is charged with criminal conspiracy to commit false imprisonment, criminal conspiracy to commit unlawful restraint, and endangering the welfare of children.

The children, now 8 and 7, were removed from the home in March 2024 and placed into foster care.

For investigators, the case is not simply about one improvised cage or a single disturbing discovery. It is about alleged prolonged isolation, deprivation, and a system that authorities say kept two young children restrained and unseen.