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Girl Chained to Bed Dies in Fire
CLARKSVILLE, Ark. — Bond was set at $100,000 each Wednesday for a Johnson County couple charged with felony manslaughter after the body of their 10-year-old daughter, chained to a bed by her ankles, was found in the debris of the family's burned home.
Sheriff Wesley Kendrick said investigators believe the fire was accidental. Four people made it out of the home -- the parents and their two other children.
The body of Molly Holt was found by firefighters in her bedroom under debris where the roof had collapsed, said Chief Deputy Jerry Dorney. Investigators also found a chain and padlock that they determined had secured the girl to her bed, Dorney said.
"The reason that the child was chained to the bed is unknown at this time," Prosecutor David Gibbons said Wednesday. "I do know that there is no justifiable reason to chain the 10-year-old child to their bed."
Molly's parents, Lloyd Holt, 32, and Teresa Dick, 31, were arrested on a felony manslaughter charge. At a hearing Wednesday, a judge appointed a public defender to the case and set the bond amount for each of the parents, said Deputy Prosecutor Bruce Wilson. The couple remained in the county jail at Clarksville on Wednesday evening.
Investigators believe the fire started in the front of the house, where the girl's bedroom was located, but they hadn't determined by Wednesday what caused the fire.
"The entire house was completely destroyed and on the ground," Dorney said. "The only thing standing was a brick chimney. At this point, we believe the fire was accidental."
The chief deputy would not disclose what the parents told investigators when asked why their daughter was chained to the bed. He said when deputies arrived at the scene, the father said he wasn't able to get Molly out of the house.
The body was sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for an autopsy.
Dorney said deputies received a call at 12:45 a.m. Monday of the fire about 13 miles north of Clarksville. The nearest residence to the two bedroom, wood-frame rent house was about a quarter-mile away.
When deputies arrived, the front of the house was engulfed in flames, and Lloyd Holt told them he believed Molly was still inside.
Both parents are employed, although Dorney said he didn't know exactly where. "We've not had any problems with them that I can remember off the top of my head," he said.
The couple's other children -- a girl about 5 and a boy about 3 -- were placed with relatives, Dorney said.
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Let the "some people don't deserve to be parents" bashing begin...