A New Mexico woman and her boyfriend are in custody after police found an 8 year old girl locked inside a wooden box at the couples home in Las Cruces.  The couple had locked her in the box and left her alone while they took three other children to a movie.

Cindy Patriarchias and Edmond Gonzales are in custody of the Las Cruces Police Department after police discovered their secret at home.  According to police reports, Patriarchias and Gonzales had taken Patriarchias's three children to a movie at their elementary school.  Patriarchias's estranged husband arrived at the school, discovered the 8 year old girl was absent and called police for fear she had been left unattended.  Police waited for Patriarchias and Gonzales to return before they could enter.  After entering the mobile home police discovered the girl in a homemade wooden cage that had two latches on the door, a baby crib's mattress inside and was about 2 1/2 feet wide and 4 feet tall.  The girl suffers from microcephaly – a condition that gives people an abnormally small head.  Patriarchias had been trying to adopt the girl but had been unable to reach the girl's birth mother for her consent.  The girl did not seem to have any physical injuries, police said. She has since been placed under the care of New Mexico's child-protection agency.

Patriarchias, 33, has been charged with negligently causing child abuse. Gonzales, 37, was charged with negligently permitting child abuse.  No pleas were entered at their court appearance on Monday.  They were being held on $25,000 cash-only bonds.  It has not been reported if they have hired attorneys.

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