Wisconsin Parents Arrested After Children Reveal Heartbreaking Starvation Horror

A couple in Wisconsin has been accused of starving their six children for over four years. Casey Cano, 38, and Mary Cano, 35, were arrested in March for allegedly abusing their children at their home in Gays Mills, Crawford County.

The children were aged between one and nine years old when the abuse took place. Not only did the couple starve the children, but they also allegedly beat them up, punished them, and even forced one of them to wear the same diaper for multiple days.

The children said their parents denied them food for days at a stretch. They faced extreme hunger and were eventually forced to eat bugs, mold, and dog food to survive. The children also told authorities that their parents beat them with belts.

The beatings were so harsh that they often caused bleeding or welts. The couple has been accused of beating a child as young as three months old. The abuse came to an end in April 2022 when Casey and Mary were charged with s—-- assault of another 12-year-old child.

At the time, the children were removed from their home. However, an investigation into the abuse did not begin until December 2025. Both Casey and Mary are now facing a total of 13 charges.

These include six counts of repeated physical abuse of a child with great bodily harm, six counts of child neglect, and one count of causing a child under 13 to view or listen to a s– act. According to court documents, Casey has been named as an aggressor in the case, while Mary’s charge carries a ‘party to a crime’ modifier, which signifies that she did not stop the abuse from happening.

Both the accused are currently out of jail after posting bond. Casey’s bond was set at $2,000, while Mary had to post $1,000. The date of their next court hearing has not been determined.

The news comes a few months after another Wisconsin child was found starving at her home. In August 2025, authorities rescued a 14-year-old girl from her home in Oneida. The victim weighed only 35 pounds and suffered from multi-organ failure.

She lived with four adults in the house, inclduing her father, Walter Goodman, stepmother, Melissa Goodman, stepsister, Savanna Lefever, and LeFever's partner, Kayla Stemler. However, none of the adults allegedly cared about her.

The family was accused of keeping the girl locked in her room most of the time, limiting her water, and forcing her to sleep on the floor without a mattress. “She was neglected for a number of years. She has not gone to the doctor since September 2020. She has not been in school since COVID,” Outagamie County Assistant District Attorney Julie DuQuaine said.

All four adults were charged with three counts of chronic neglect of a child causing great bodily harm and two counts of chronic neglect of a child causing emotional damage. The accused are facing up to 80 years in prison.