HAWKEYE – This Northern Iowa mother was turned in for leaving her 7-year-old child home alone on numerous occasions to go to work for up to 10 hours each time, and police nabbed her out tooling around in a car as the kid waited at her home.
On the afternoon hours of January 29, 2026, the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a 7-year-old child being left home alone after 9:00 PM all night, alone at the address of 401 E Burger Street in Hawkeye, Iowa.
While patrolling the area, a Fayette county sheriff’s deputy observed a vehicle leaving the Burger Street address at 9:30 PM. Contact was attempted at the home multiple times. After numerous attempts, contact was made over the phone with the parents of the child, one of which was out of state, and the other who had left the child home alone to go to work.
During the investigation process, it was found that 44-year-old Kari Lynn Youngblut of Hawkeye, Iowa, had on numerous occasions since the summer of 2025 left a 7-year-old child home alone all night while traveling to work, for 8–10-hour periods. Youngblut was arrested and charged with:
- 10 counts of Child Endangerment (aggravated misdemeanors)
Youngblut (pictured at top) was transported to Fayette County Jail and booked in at 12:24 AM on January 30. She bonded out of jail later that day at 10:15 AM, records show. Youngblut now awaits a February 11 hearing.
Police say the minor child is safe at this time.
This case is ongoing and there could be more pending charges, police said.