WILDWOOD, Mo. – The FOX Files first told you Tuesday about the Wildwood home ordered to vacate, partly because of a cat infestation. Pictures taken by the elderly homeowner’s relative revealed some of the more than 137 cats recovered so far.

The homeowner’s daughter Carolyn Haydon told us that she and two other siblings had been trying to warn authorities for more than a year – after strangely being denied entry into the home.

“When my parents would come to visit me for Christmas, their clothes, their suitcase would have that ammonia smell,” said Haydon.

Then they found out from a family friend that their mom died, leading them to ask the courts for an emergency hearing to protect their dad. In court Friday, they blamed someone else living in the home: Their sister.

The homeowners’ grandson, Jonathan Carter, was also in the courtroom. He told us, “My whole goal today was to make sure that his well-being was taken care of.”

Carter agreed with his two aunts who testified that their sister moved into the Wildwood home about ten years ago and took control. They alleged that she prohibited anyone from entering the home while allegedly monitoring her parent’s cell phone calls and emails.

Then the elderly homeowner testified himself — saying his daughter was simply trying to save the cats.  Then he admitted – some of the cats that died were put in a freezer so their cat hoarding would not be discovered.

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Carter commented, “I’m devastated. I didn’t know it was that bad. I had ideas. I had no proof.”

The sisters testified that while their father struggled with memory problems – the sister in question moved in and took over after having her law license revoked in Virginia in 2015 and losing her home to foreclosure.

“There’s a lot of things that are going on with her,” Carter said.

The judge agreed to order a temporary guardian and also ordered that elderly homeowner an independent medical evaluation to determine his competence. We’ll return to court to see how this develops.

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