Insets: Air Force Lt. Col. Steven Haynes and Susan Haynes. Background: Enid, Oklahoma, home where the Hayneses allegedly forced their 9-year-old daughter to live in a closet (KFOR).
An Oklahoma Air Force lieutenant colonel and his wife allegedly forced their malnourished 9-year-old adopted daughter to live in a closet and called her "Jingle Bells" because they made her wear bells so they knew if she was moving around the house.
Lt. Col. Steven Haynes and Susan Haynes are charged with child neglect, court records say.
According to an arrest report obtained by local NBC affiliate KFOR, the girl weighed just 39 pounds which is the proper weight for a girl five years her junior.
Investigators with the Department of Human Services learned that the girl was living in a closet in the Enid home, sleeping on a cot with only a blanket and no pillow. There also was a bucket in the closet so she could use the bathroom, per cops.
The girl was so hungry that she sometimes ate dog food, the affidavit reportedly said.
The suspects claimed the girl had an eating disorder. But when cops asked why they did seek help for the girl, Susan Haynes allegedly said "she did not believe that a doctor or counseling would help."
Investigators reportedly said the couple nicknamed the girl "Jingle Bells" because she wore bells on her neck, wrists and legs so she would make noise whenever she moved, alerting her parents to where she was located in the home.
She also reportedly sometimes had to take cold showers.
This is not the first time DHS investigated the parents' alleged treatment of the girl. School officials reportedly alerted DHS after the girl, then in pre-K, appeared to be malnourished and would try to steal other kids' food. In response, the Lt. Col. and his wife yanked her out of school and homeschooled her.
The latest accusations reportedly surfaced when the girl spoke with DHS and described her mistreatment as though it were a normal way to live.
Cops arrested the suspects and took them to the Garfield County Jail, where they have since posted their $10,000 bonds. Their next court dates are set for Oct. 5.
Steven Haynes is a flight instructor at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, which is about 80 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, the Air Force said in a statement to KFOR. He is a 19-year veteran.
He was one of nine airmen who filed a lawsuit after refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, claiming it contained "unclean things forbidden by God," KFOR reported.