4 charged in case where child suffered from extreme malnutrition and lived in a crate.

Deputies from Stone County, MO recently arrested four people in a case that involved child suffering and extreme malnutrition.

Dessa Barton, 26, Katherine Kost, 56, Dalton McLendon, 26, and Richard Hilliker, 52, all face charges of endangering the welfare of a child and child abuse.

Originally, investigators received a 911 call on November 6 about an unresponsive child in a Billings, MO home.

Emergency crews transported the four-year-old child to a Springfield hospital and then airlifted him to a Kansas City hospital.

Detectives were advised by medical personnel that the child had suffered injuries consistent with physical abuse. He also was suffered from extreme malnutrition.

After more inquiring, detectives said the boy spent prolonged periods of time in a wooden crate that was constructed by pallets.