HOUSTON -- Four children were found home alone at a northwest Harris County apartment complex, KPRC Local 2 reported.

On Tuesday morning, a 7-year-old girl was upset about missing school. She went outside and cried beside her apartment gate in the 17000 block of Cali Drive.

A woman stopped to help the girl and the girl took the woman to her apartment. That woman called the apartment manager.

"I went in and the kids were there," manager Eve Jordan said.

Jordan said four children, ranging in age from 2 to 7, were inside living in what she described as deplorable conditions.

"The first thing I thought was, 'Those kids didn't need to be there.' You know, they need a home. They need somebody who's going to care for them. Something bad could have really happened to them."

"We're both responsible," the children's father, Corey Burist, said.

Burist said that he and the children's mother are separated, but he said he visits nearly every day. He said he last saw the mother in the apartment at about midnight Monday, when he fed, bathed and took care of the kids.

Neighbor Gary Rusher said something needed to happen a long time ago.

"Those kids don't deserve to be left there alone by themselves. The way that they look when they come outside, they're not dressed appropriately. The mom is always gone. The dad is gone. Dad will be gone for days. Mom will be out 2-3:00 at night coming in. They're there by themselves."

Child Protective Services took custody of the four children. Investigators from CPS and from the Harris County Sheriff's Department want to talk to the parents. As of Tuesday night, no charges had been filed.