Posted on 10/31/2026 5:00:13 PM PDT by Komodo1990
Irene Miller, 50, of Kissimmee, was arrested the moment she got off her flight from Las Vegas on Friday, Oct. 23. Deputies say her four children had been home alone. The case began on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Just after 8:30 p.m., a child called 911 from a Kissimmee home. Her 9-year-old brother had been hit on the head by a falling dumbbell.
Deputies raced to the house and found no adults inside. Four children, ages 14, 12, 11 and 9, were alone. Fire Rescue took the injured boy to Celebration Hospital, where he was treated and released.
Deputies reached the childrenâs mother by phone. She told them she was in Las Vegas for work and due back on Oct. 23, according to the sheriffâs office. Investigators learned she had left on Oct. 18.
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Hmm ... Florida Mom hits Vegas for a few days of “work.” Viva!
My guess is that the oldest child was probably PO’d that he or she was forced to be the parent while mommy was gone. So something happened and 911 was called.
RE: ...had been hit on the head by a falling dumbbell.
There used to be a top rated tv show “What’s My Line?”. Arlene Francis was one of the panelists trying to guess the mystery occupations.
Tragic story——
On June 23, 1960, a 60‑year‑old Detroit businessman named Alvin Rodecker was dining at the Le Pavillon restaurant on the ground floor of the Ritz Tower, 57th Street, New York City
After finishing his meal, he walked toward Park Avenue when a 5–8 pound dumbbell fell from the eighth‑story apartment of Arlene Francis and Martin Gabel. The dumbbell has been propping up a window.
The dumbbell struck Rodecker, knocking him unconscious; he later died in the hospital.
——Newspapers.com
Photo....
What a clear, top quality image. Must be the “4D” type. And the picture balance of the cop, the suspect and the people shown in the reflection are excellent from a visual standpoint. The cop doing his job, the woman concerned and worried about the future, now in handcuffs.
I used to try to achieve that as an amateur photographer. My father was one and had various awards for his pictures, usually sent to newspapers and magazines. May he rest in peace.
-screenshot.jpg)
What a sad story about Arlene Francis. Never knew that. It must have been devastating to her.
She had someone helping the kids get ready for school and at other times.
The person did not stay overnight.
I don’t see problem here. We coddle kids.
I'm no doctor, but it seems a head injury should have been taken to Cerebration Hospital.
RE: Irene Miller, 50, of Kissimmee.
Booking Officer: State your city of residence.
Irene: Kissimmee.
Officer: But I don’t even know you.
Agreed. When my older sister reached around 13 years, my parents no longer called a baby sitter for us. Me and my brother would have been around 11 and 9 at the time, which is an age range similar to this family’s. I’m sure most people have had a similar experience. Granted, my folks wouldn’t have left us alone overnight at that age, but if this mother made provisions to have an adult check in on them at night and in the morning, I don’t see it as a case of neglect.
It’s an unfortunate incident, and in hindsight, I imagine she would have done things differently, but at some point you have to start giving your kids more responsibility. Accidents can happen even with adult supervision. This seems like government over reach to me.
We live and I grew up in the country, so our rule has always been that if adults are gone more than an hour, at least one of the kids needs to be old enough to drive.
We live and I grew up in the country, so our rule has always been that if adults are gone more than an hour, at least one of the kids needs to be old enough to drive.
Staying overnight would seem more needed to me. At 14 with no adults in the house late at night would have scared me. Now, by 16 I was ok...took care of 16 mo old (along with 2 younger teen siblings). Ended up calling doc (after talking with neighbor) for house call after baby got high fever that weekend. Course, this was way back when.
Poor Guy. I feel sorry for him,
someone should have been there more then briefly just get them to school and check them later in day.
what about if some thing happened middle of night? sudden illness? fire/cooking?no adult was really there for 3 days with them before the dumbbell incident. and was supposed to be 5 days.
don’t you recall being those ages with siblings? and wonder what other possible arguments or problems arose while the drop in help wasn’t there?
sure 12 and 14 is somewhat grown up, but can’t drive, can’t legally speak for themself, or other children if a situation arose and an adult was needed.
it seems this mom cared more about saving a buck then she did her kids.
” I don’t see it as a case of neglect.” and you think it’s govt over reach?
the kids are all very much minors.
maybe they are the rare case of all perfect little angels, but starting to give them some responsibility(as you mention) by leaving them basically on their own for 5 days is quite a lot of responsibility at 9-14 year olds. though I would guess this mom left them alone a lot even when she was not out of town.
I used to pet sit for people. people pay to have pets checked once or twice a day and many, many, had me stay over night, for pets! some times just a cat or 2.
These are children as young as 9, left basically alone from after school til went to school next day. plenty worse could have happened then however the dumbell hit the one kid in the head.
Guess now days they would bury my mother... We had to fend for ourselves after school to midnight every day. At one time it was from about 9pm (all night) to after school the next day. We didn’t have a babysitter either.
Media hyping an embelleshed story...14 yros are frequently hired as babysitters...sure,better to have another adult but life is not perfect.,,,
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