When police and medics found Natalie Jasmine Finn in late October, the 16-year-old Iowa teen was wearing an adult diaper, lying on a linoleum floor in her own waste “for some time,” according to court documents unsealed this week.

Finn shared the empty room, without furniture or beds, with two of her siblings and scores of dogs and cats that had the run of the home, West Des Moines police Detective Chris Morgan wrote in an affidavit. It smelled of human and animal waste, with blankets “heavily soaked” in what authorities believed to be urine, according to Morgan.

“Many animals roamed freely, including well over a dozen kittens and cats,” Morgan wrote in the document obtained by the Des Moines Register. “There were numerous kennels with dogs scattered inside the residence.”

Finn was unresponsive and not breathing, according to a search warrant application filed by Morgan that emerged Tuesday after a judge’s order to keep the documents under seal expired. The document detailed interviews conducted by investigators with three other Finn children, two of whom were underweight and had bedsores.

Natalie Finn died at a nearby hospital on Oct. 24. She died from emaciation due to the denial of critical care, according to the Polk County medical examiner’s office.

Nicole Marie Finn, 42, of West Des Moines, was arrested in December on first-degree murder charges for her daughter’s death and child endangerment charges for her treatment of Natalie’s 15-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister — all of whom were adopted.

Joseph Michael Finn II, of Urbandale, Finn’s ex-husband, faces charges of first-degree kidnapping, child endangerment and neglect of a dependent person in the case. Both remain in the Polk County Jail and are awaiting a trial scheduled for October, the Des Moines Register reports.

Investigators determined that Nicole Finn had controlled Natalie’s food intake, as well as that of her siblings, in an effort to control their behavior. The children also did not attend school regularly, although Natalie Finn was being home-schooled by her mother at the time of her death, according to the warrant.

Joseph Finn told investigators during interviews with police that he helped Nicole Finn nail a window shut in the bedroom after learning that the children had snuck out to beg for food at a nearby convenience store. Finn also admitted to investigators that he replaced the carpet in the children’s room with linoleum.

“It’s a horrific situation and I feel heartbroken for Natalie and her siblings who were, in essence, sealed in that room and left to die,” state Sen. Matt McCoy told KCRG.com.

Meanwhile, lawmakers held an oversight hearing Monday in connection with the handling of Finn’s case. Wendy Rickman, administrator of adult children and family services for the Iowa Department of Human Services, defended the agency’s response, KCCI.com reports.

“I would tell you as the child welfare director, as a child welfare administrator, that our system is functional,” Rickman said. “It is beyond functional.”