SPLENDORA, Texas, March 9 (UPI) -- An incarcerated Texas mother said she thought a relative was taking care of her two children who were found living on an abandoned school bus.
Sherrie Shorten and her husband, Mark, were imprisoned in 2009, convicted of embezzling a hurricane recovery loan, KTRK-TV, Houston, reported.
Since then, Shorten's 5-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter were supposed to be watched by their aunt, who left them alone during the day so she could commute to Houston for work.
On Wednesday, a postal worker discovered the children living on a bus on a wooded plot of land in Splendora, Texas.
"At first I thought they were abandoned the way it looked," postal worker Vanessa Vicazo said.
Officials at the scene said the land was littered with trash and that the children were rarely supervised.
Shorten said she did not know about the trash, but said the accommodations were decent.
"There's a flat screen TV on the wall and a computer on the desk. There's communication -- a telephone there if 911 needed to be called," Shorten said via phone from prison.
The children were placed in emergency foster care by Child Protective Services Thursday.
"We felt they were unsafe, there was also a concern about supervision and so those are things that we'll be talking to the family about," said Gwen Carter, a CPS spokeswoman.
Shorten said she will be out of prison next month.
"I need to do something but I've got to get arrangements made so they can come back home," Shorten said.
