Background: The Des Moines County Correctional Center in Burlington, Iowa (Google Maps). Inset: Audrey Engler (Des Moines County Jail).
In a troubling case from southern Iowa, a caregiver faces serious allegations of neglect towards a dependent adult under her supervision. Audrey Engler, aged 25, is charged with intentional dependent adult abuse, as verified by court documents examined by Law&Crime. Despite the recent filing of charges, the incident allegedly took place in August.
On the morning of August 15, the Burlington Police Department was alerted to the death of an elderly woman the previous night, according to a criminal complaint sourced by The Hawk Eye. The deceased had engaged Vibrance Homecare for in-home assistance, a role that had been assigned to Engler.
Engler had reportedly been residing with the victim, whose name and age have not been disclosed, until July 21. On that date, the elderly woman was hospitalized following a mattress fire, which was significant as she was unable to move independently from her bed.
As the investigation unfolded, authorities uncovered distressing details about the victim’s living conditions. The woman suffered from burns on her back and had developed severe bedsores. Investigators noted her linens were soiled, her catheter was full, and she was found sitting in her own waste, as outlined in the complaint. The situation was compounded by additional neglect.
Engler is accused of failing to administer necessary medications to the victim. Furthermore, the home was described as being in disarray, with clutter covering the floors, making it difficult to find a place to sit or stand.
Engler was allegedly not giving the woman the medicine she needed. Furthermore, the home was a mess, with “stuff all over the ground” so that “a person couldn’t find a place to sit or stand.”
When police spoke with the victim’s case manager, the manager said the victim asked the company to buy her clothing items because “all her money was going to Engler,” The Hawk Eye reported. The victim also had a nurse, who told investigators she was visiting frequently to deal with the woman’s pain, but that Engler encouraged her to reduce the number of times she visited.
Also troubling was that the woman appeared to be getting “skinnier and skinnier,” according to the complaint. The woman would communicate with Engler via text when she needed something, but detectives reviewed their message history and found multiple occurrences where Engler “wouldn’t respond for hours.”
The suspect would reportedly later admit that she only moved the woman “one time a day” and that she “could have taken care of the dependent adult better and could have checked on her more and could have had more compassion for her.”
Engler was placed in the Des Moines County Correctional Center on Thursday and is expected in court for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 29.
Burlington is located in southeastern Iowa, along the border with Illinois.
