Police found Jacqueline Torres-Garcia in a plastic tote behind an abandoned New Britain house in 2025. Records show DCF closed a case months earlier after a video check. The story tracks the school withdrawal, the missed in-person visit, and the custody decisions that left no neutral eyes on her.

A shocking case in Waterbury exposed decades of abuse hidden in plain sight. A man held captive since childhood was discovered after setting fire to his home, forcing attention on failures by Connecticut’s DCF. Teachers and neighbors had raised alarms for years, yet the system erased records and ignored warnings. This tragedy joins a pattern of preventable child deaths and neglect cases that reveal a child protection agency in crisis.