In 1992, David and Sharon Schoo left their two young daughters, nine-year-old Nicole and four-year-old Diana, home alone in Chicago for nine days while they vacationed in Acapulco, Mexico. The children were discovered by a neighbor when they appeared at her door distressed, reporting their fire alarm was going off and something was leaking.
They were left with frozen dinners, cereal, and instructions on when to eat and sleep, without a babysitter or access to their parents' contact information. Authorities were alerted when firemen and sheriff's deputies responded to a smoke alarm call at the Schoo residence and found no adults present.
The girls were placed with their grandmother and later in foster care while efforts were made to locate their parents. The Schoos were apprehended at a Houston airport on December 28th while returning from their trip.
The couple was charged with felony child abandonment, cruelty to children, and misdemeanor child endangerment. The case attracted significant national attention, highlighting the parents' history of being withdrawn and David Schoo's past professional misconduct.
Through a plea deal, they avoided trial and received two years of probation. The extreme nature of this case led to legislative changes in Illinois.
In 1993, a law was enacted that redefined child abandonment to include intentionally leaving a child under 14 alone for 24 hours or more. The Schoo daughters were reportedly placed for adoption that same year, with community members expressing strong sentiments that the children should be kept away from their parents permanently.
