HALIFAX TOWNSHIP -- To the outside world, nothing about the Weyants seemed out of place.

Like any number of houses along rural Route 147, there's a car up on jacks in the drive and a dog kennel out back. A blue plastic slide, shaped like an elephant with a curling trunk, sits unused in the leaf-strewn yard.

Brandi Weyant, 38, clipped coupons and sent extra bushels of apples and frozen food over to her neighbors. Joshua Weyant, 33, gradually cleared away trash that had accumulated around the house for years. Several months ago--neighbors couldn't remember exactly when--they hosted a birthday party with a bonfire out back.

"I knew he'd been through some rough times but he seemed like a good man, or at least that's the way he portrayed himself," one neighbor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said of the husband.

That image of working-class decency was undermined earlier this month when police and child welfare investigators discovered three emaciated young children the Weyants allegedly locked inside a room each night with no heat and scant food.

When the children arrived Dec. 16 at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, two of them were "approaching a dangerous and life-threatening condition," according to a doctor cited in the state police affidavit. All three were underweight and malnourished, their skin caked with animal hair, dirt, feces and urine.

On Tuesday, an official from the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office told PennLive that two of the children have been released to the foster care home of a medical professional who will be able to help them recover. The third remains in the hospital.

Investigators believe the Weyants stopped feeding and caring for them in September.

A blue plastic slide, shaped like an elephant with a curling trunk, sits unused in the leaf-strewn yard of the house in the 1000 block of North River Road in Halifax Township.

On Monday afternoon, Pete Hendershot wandered the front yard, holding an e-cigarette that he never brought to his lips. For just over a year, he said, the Weyants let him live in their attached garage. His fiancee also lived in the home.

Hendershot didn't know how many children lived there and he never knew about the inhabitants of the locked room. When asked about a ramshackle two-level wooden structure behind the home, he replied that he thought it was a playhouse although he never saw any children use it. He and his fiancee, the last ones left here, plan to leave soon.

"That scared me," he said, of the Dec. 16 police visit that uncovered the alleged abuse. "I was taking the dogs out. I was like, 'I didn't do anything wrong.' "

State troopers and caseworkers from Dauphin County Children and Youth Services arrived at the home at about 12:30 p.m. that Friday.

They would piece together untold horrors as they walked through the home and interviewed the Weyants and their children.

According to the state police affidavit of probable cause, the children told the authorities that they were locked in their room at night and could not leave. Investigators found hook-and-eye locks on the outside of the children's bedroom door. The children said they would pound on the wall in order to be let out to use the bathroom and, when no one came, would urinate on themselves or the floor.

In the affidavit, police said the children "reeked of a strong odor similar to that of caged animals."

The two older children, a 5-year-old girl identified as SRB and a 6-year-old boy identified as JTW, were emaciated to the point that their ribs, spines and other bones were visible through their skin. The last thing any of the children remembered eating was an apple.

Investigators said the children's bedroom had no heat source. Only a space heater and an open stove heated their parents' room and the kitchen, respectively. When police arrived at the home, the children's core body temperatures were measured at 94 degrees (the normal range is 97.7 to 99.5) and increased to about 97 degrees by the time they reached the hospital more than an hour later.

"The victims stated numerous times that they were cold, and despite having multiple layers of clothing on, they were physically shivering while being interviewed," the affidavit reads. "[A caseworker] provided the children with her coat to keep them warm."

The Weyant home in Halifax Township, as it appeared Monday. Pete Hendershot, who said he lived in the garage and didn't know how many children were in the home, wanders the yard.

No toys were found in the children's unfurnished room. They told investigators that they slept on small cots set up on the bare plywood floor. At night, they said, they were given a blanket. Large sections of the wall were bare and the children told investigators that they often peeled the paint off.

One of the children, JTW, had a severe abrasion on his right eye that he told police was a result of his father throwing him across the floor as punishment. All of the children had bruises and scratches that, according to police, were attributed variously to both parents.

According to the affidavit, SRB had a vacant stare and was "largely non-verbal," avoiding eye contact. She completely lacked any fat in her abdomen that would normally hold her internal organs in place--a condition that may have led her organs to collapse if left untreated. In the hospital, medical professionals told police they believe she may have a vascular condition as a result of being starved. She will remain in the hospital until she gains weight and is again able to process solid food.

JTW was initially released from the hospital on Dec. 21, five days after his arrival, but returned to the emergency room the same day due to a distended stomach. He will require a tube running from his stomach to his nose to relieve gas and clear his bowels, according to the affidavit, likely due to "the physical abuse he sustained in his home."

On the way to the hospital, the youngest child--a 4-year-old girl identified as HRW-- "screamed and made statements that she did not want to go back home to see her parents or to her grandmother's residence." During an interview with a staffer from the Children's Resource Center, "she went to the corner of the room and sat down with her legs curled up." According to the affidavit, she stared blankly when asked questions about her home. "When asked if she wanted it to stop, she nodded yes," and the interview was ended. Like JTW, HRW left the hospital on Dec. 21 only to return the same day due to vomiting and a sustained fever.

Police say each of the children had gone years without seeing a doctor.

According to the affidavit, medical records show that JTW weighed 28 pounds at his last medical appointment in October 2013. More than three years later, he weighs 27.3 pounds. SRB weighed 27 pounds at her last appointment in May 2014 and now weighs 23.1 pounds. HRW weighed 23 pounds at her last appointment, on the same day as her older sister, and now weighs 26.4 pounds.

A doctor at the Hershey hospital told police that he was certain the two older siblings "would have died as a result of the physical abuse and neglect they received in their home" had their conditions remained unchecked for a few days or a week more.

The Weyants were charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault, conspiracy, endangering the welfare of a child, false imprisonment and unlawful restraint. They were held at the Dauphin County Prison with bail set at $1 million each.

In an interview on Dec. 20, several days after the children were taken to the hospital, Brandi Weyant reportedly told police that she believed none of the three children were biologically hers or her husband's although some had their last name. She told police that SRB, the oldest girl, came to live with her when she was 18 months old. The other children, HRW and JTW, came to live with the couple in January 2013. They've resided off Route 147 since June 2014, she said.

"[Brandi] stated that she cared about and wanted the children; however, Joshua didn't care about JTW and SRB and favored HRW," the affidavit reads. "She stated that HRW received special treatment, while the others were punished."

An excerpt from the affidavit of probable cause written in the Weyant case.

Elsewhere in the affidavit, investigators noted that HRW also had bruises over her entire body and scratch marks and bruises on her right thigh that were attributed to Brandi.

"She states that Joshua only cared about HRW and a [17-year-old] teenage daughter in the residence," the affidavit continued.

Brandi told police that Joshua threatened her not to feed the three children or "she would get in trouble." When her husband was out of the home or asleep, she said, she would sneak snacks to them. She also told police that she had repeatedly asked for help from other individuals. She never went to the authorities for help, "even though she had previous relationships with CYS caseworkers." She disavowed any knowledge of the locked door and denied any physical abuse of the children.

According to Brandi's statements in the affidavit, "things became bad for the family in March of 2016 when Joshua came back into the home after spending time in jail." Prior to that incident, she told police, their relationship had been good but "things became horrible" after his return.

Court records show that Joshua Weyant faced a felony child rape charge that stemmed from a separate 2013 incident. That charge and another count of unlawful contact with a minor were withdrawn this past March. He is still facing charges of corruption of minors and indecent assault of someone under 13. Joshua Weyant is scheduled to appear before county Judge Scott A. Evans for that case Jan. 4.

Joshua Weyant posted $75,000 bail in that earlier case in December 2015. After the child rape charge was withdrawn in March 2016, Dauphin County Judge Deborah Curcillo granted a bail modification allowing him "contact with his children and the children of his paramour, and allowing him to reside at his residence."

Brandi told police that she had suggested that her husband "get rid of the children" and take them to other individuals who could care for them. According to her, he never allowed it.

"Brandi began to cry and agreed that once the children began to look as they do now, she couldn't leave the house with them and she agreed that the world couldn't see them as they are," the affidavit reads.

When Joshua's mental health caseworkers came to the house, Brandi told police that she wasn't allowed to speak with them and they could not see the children. They were also kept from school "due to their appearance."

No one outside the home has seen the children since this summer, she said, a fact that roughly dovetails with what several neighbors told PennLive.

The Weyant home as it appeared Monday, with a pile of children's toys and other debris in the yard.

Brandi told police that her husband "began to drink alcohol and party" with neighbors across the street in August or September of this year "and he would never be home." In September, she said, she became ill and didn't leave the bed until she felt better two months later. During that time, she never saw a doctor about her own health and she never cared for the three children.

"She stated that Joshua told her he was taking care of it and she made assumptions that the victims were fed," the affidavit reads. "She stated that she believed her other [17-year-old] daughter would sometimes feed the children. She stated that she did her thing and Josh did his thing."

Joshua Weyant also denied the physical abuse allegations in an interview with police on Dec. 20, although he did state that he and his wife were the children's parents.

"Despite being showed photographs of the victims in their poor physical health, he showed no emotion of any kind," the affidavit reads.

Joshua told police that he shut the door to the children's bedroom because they would get out a lot and destroy everything. When asked about allegations that he told Brandi not to feed the children, he replied, "We feed the kids in order." According to the affidavit, Joshua went on to name foods the children would have eaten, although investigators assert that there was no way they would have been able to consume solid foods.

"He later states that he didn't want the children overfed," the affidavit reads. "He states that the house always has food and there is never a shortage of food in the house."

Later in the interview, Weyant told police that he could not recall the last time the children left the house. The children were withheld from school, he reportedly said, because he and Brandi hadn't completed the paperwork.

"When confronted with who to blame for the condition of their children," according to the affidavit, Joshua replied: "I'm not pointing the figure [sic] at nobody."

This article has been updated to clarify the status of an earlier criminal case against Joshua Weyant and to include the latest information about the children's conditions.

Wallace McKelvey may be reached at wmckelvey@pennlive.com. Follow him on Twitter @wjmckelvey. Find PennLive on Facebook.