Florida Keys deputies stopped a car and peeked inside. They saw reptiles, and much worse
Florida Keys deputies arrested a Fort Myers couple Thursday night after a toddler was found in a filthy car crawling with cockroaches, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
The man and woman, Zachary Sousa Engren, 22, and Jillian Larae Meyers, 20, face multiple charges, including child abuse, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. Engren was also booked on a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon because deputies found a .40 caliber Glock pistol under the passenger side of the car he was driving, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies pulled over the Chevy sedan around 11:30 p.m. on U.S. 1 in the Middle Keys city of Marathon following calls that it was driving recklessly, said sheriff’s office spokesman Adam Linhardt.
Other than Engren and Meyers, there was a 2-year-old child and a 24-year-old man in the car, Linhardt said. The car reeked of marijuana smoke and there were joints and loose pot inside, Linhardt said. The car was also littered with used food containers, clothes and trash, deputies said.
In the trunk, deputies said they found “assorted reptiles and insects” contained in boxes.
Deputies found several of the roaches crawling on the child, Linhardt said, adding that the boy “smelled of human waste.” Engren and Meyers said the child was in their care, according to the sheriff’s office. They told deputies they had diapers for the child, but the deputies found none in the car, Linhardt said.
Deputies arrested the couple. Engren is being held on $25,000 bond. Meyers’ bond information was not immediately available, but she is also in county jail.
The other man in the car said he had no knowledge of the gun or drugs and was not arrested. He said they were all in the Keys to collect reptiles and insects.
Deputies called the Florida Department of Children and Families, which placed the child in its care, Linhardt said.
This story was originally published December 21, 2022 at 3:32 PM.
