When St. Louis County Police responded to the death of an 8-month-old girl they found the conditions the family members were living in made the home "uninhabitable." Conditions were that bad. While police conduct their investigation the county is now also looking into the home.

The St. Louis County Public Works department has a special unit for "Problem Properties." We interviewed David Wrone with Public Works and Aaron Tossey, an inspector who is teamed with a county police officer to look into these properties.

You may look at some of the pictures in our story and think that it's incredible that in this day & age there are still people who can live in these conditions right here in St. Louis. While many times these people suffer from mental illness there are several other reasons that lead to these conditions such as depression, recent loss of a loved one, abusive situations etc. Wrone says oftentimes it's a "domino effect" and the situation easily gets out of control. Soon, people are living without running water, sewer, electricity or gas.

The county works--basically--as a "middle man" trying to help the people and connect them to the proper social service agencies. This could mean getting them in touch with a social worker from the state or a group of volunteers from a church. The approach from the county is not meant to be punitive.

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