Mother Charged for Leaving Kids Alone While Vacationing in Europe

An Iowa woman has been charged with four counts of child endangerment after leaving her four young children home alone while she traveled to Europe.

Erin Lee Macke, 30, traveled to Germany on a pre-planned 12-day trip to visit her brother and niece, leaving her four children, aged 6, 7, and 12, home alone without any adult supervision.

Officers were called to Macke’s home on September 21 after the father of two of Macke’s children called the police. They then went to Macke’s apartment shortly after 7 p.m. that day to find the four children home alone. One of Macke’s older children was preparing dinner for the others and a gun and ammunition were found laying out on Macke’s bedroom shelf.

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“There was nobody lined up to be with the children,” Lt. Lynn Aswegan of the Johnston, Iowa Police Department told PEOPLE. “Apparently she had talked to a couple of family members that earlier on had some conflicts watching the children during that time-frame, and she gave them the indication she had it taken care of. She felt comfortable that the kids were responsible enough to take care of themselves during that duration.”

In her court appearance on Tuesday, Macke stated that her aunt and uncle were watching her children just prior to her leaving the country.

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The Iowa Department of Human Services took custody of Macke’s children, who were later released to the care of relatives. Macke, who has been charged with child endangerment and one count of transferring to a person under the age of 21, was released on $9,000 bail. She has not yet entered a plea to her charges and is scheduled to be arraigned on November 2.