They locked the girl, 5, in a closet — and she was burned, bruised and starving, police say

The father and caretaker of a malnourished 5-year-old girl found locked in a narrow closet and covered in bruises, burns and scratches were arrested Tuesday, police said.

Police arrived to a house in Randleman, North Carolina, to conduct a welfare check on Tuesday after receiving reports of a child there being mentally and physically abused, according to WFMY News 2.

There were no cars at the house, and police said it appeared there was no one there, according to Fox8.

A knock on the door received no response, so police officers began calling out the name of the young girl they were checking on.

They got a response.

Officers asked the young girl if she was OK, to which she replied, “no.”

When they asked if she needed help, the child said, “yes.”

After breaking into the house through a window on the front porch, the police say they made a grisly find: an emaciated girl — just 5 years old and covered in scratches, bruises and burns — locked in a two foot-by-four foot closet under a stairway.

The child, now in the protection of Randolph County Department of Social Services, was rushed to the Randolph Hospital, and then later transferred to Brenner's Children's Hospital, according to Fox8.

Adam Joshua Byrd, the child’s father, and Crystal Dawn Carnahan, who police described as the child’s caretaker, were arrested.

Byrd, 33, and Carnahan, 34, both face felony charges of child abuse, among other charges, according to WFMY News 2. They are both in Randolph County Jail with a secure bond of $350,000.

This story was originally published September 14, 2017 at 11:27 AM with the headline "They locked the girl, 5, in a closet — and she was burned, bruised and starving, police say."