zReportage.com Story of the Week # 648 - The Girl In The Window 10 Years Later - Launched Tuesday, December 5, 2017.
© Lara Cerri/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Wire

September 23, 2017 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. - DANIELLE 'DANI' LIEROW, now lives at a residential group home. A feral child was found starving, covered in her own filth, unable to walk or talk. A new family adopted the girl in 2007, called her Dani, and tried to make up for years of neglect.
© Lara Cerri/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

February 3, 2008 - Fort Meyers, Florida, U.S. - No one has any way of telling what lies behind Dani's big brown eyes and vacant stare. For the first seven years of her life, Danielle never saw the sun, felt the wind or tasted solid food. She was kept in a closet in a Plant City apartment, cloistered in darkness, left in a dirty diaper, fed only with a bottle. 'She was a feral child,' said Carolyn Eastman of the Tampa heart Gallery. 'We'd never seen a case like that.'
© Melissa Lyttle/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

September 23, 2017 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. - Residential group home employee SHANNON WILSON leads DANIELLE 'DANI' LIEROW to her father's car so he can take her out for her nineteenth birthday. A feral child was found starving, covered in her own filth, unable to walk or talk. A new family adopted the girl in 2007, called her Dani, and tried to make up for years of neglect.
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February 3, 2008 - Plant City, Florida, U.S. - One of the first things biological mom Michelle Crockett did when moving into her new mobile home in Plant City was hang a photo-copied picture of her daughter Dani on the wall. Still sparse and white, three other pictures of Dani have been tacked up on the walls throughout, along with a cross.
© Melissa Lyttle/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

September 23, 2017 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. - BERNIE LIEROW visits his daughter, DANIELLE 'DANI' LIEROW, at a residential group home in Murfreesboro. A feral child was found starving, covered in her own filth, unable to walk or talk. A new family adopted the girl in 2007, called her Dani, and tried to make up for years of neglect.
© Lara Cerri/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

Aug. 12, 2011 - Lebanon, Tennessee, U.S. - As BERNIE LIEROW moves the horses from the barn out to the field for the evening, he encourages DANI LIEROW, 12, who is always by his side, to help. 'Do you want to walk the horsie? Good girl, help daddy out,'' he says as she takes the lead.
© Melissa Lyttle/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

September 23, 2017 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. - DANIELLE 'DANI' LIEROW, now 19, twirls beads on her fingers at a residential group home. A feral child was found starving, covered in her own filth, unable to walk or talk. A new family adopted the girl in 2007, called her Dani, and tried to make up for years of neglect.
© Lara Cerri/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

February 3, 2008 - Fort Myers, Florida, U.S. - Born Danielle Crockett, now DANI LIEROW, 9, on the beach with her parents BERNIE and DIANE LIEROW. In the blink of an eye, Dani can switch from happily building sand castles at the beach to running around and throwing a violent fit that her parents need to calm her down from. Her moods are unpredictable and unexplainable, and her parents Bernie and Diane just try to calm Dani down with a reassuring voice, letting her know that she is safe and everything is OK.
© Melissa Lyttle/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

September 23, 2017 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. - DANIELLE 'DANI' LIEROW visits with her father, BERNIE LIEROW, during a nineteenth birthday outing at Stones River National Battlefield. A feral child was found starving, covered in her own filth, unable to walk or talk. A new family adopted the girl in 2007, called her Dani, and tried to make up for years of neglect.
© Lara Cerri/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

February 3, 2008 - Fort Myers, Florida, U.S. - Born Danielle Crockett, now DANI LIEROW, 9, walked by her parents to the school bus. As a show of family togetherness and security, DIANE LIEROW, left, and her husband BERNIE both hold one of Dani's hands as they walk her to the school bus on a weekday morning.
© Melissa Lyttle/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

September 23, 2017 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. - OMAR BISHOP, 44, helps DANIELLE 'DANI' LIEROW at dinnertime at a residential group home. A feral child was found starving, covered in her own filth, unable to walk or talk. A new family adopted the girl in 2007, called her Dani, and tried to make up for years of neglect.
© Lara Cerri/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

August 13, 2011 - Lebanon, Tennessee, U.S. - Exhausted, DIANE LIEROW leans on DANI LIEROW, 12, as she pulls toward her dad in the 4-H barn where Dani's brother Willie was showing goats.
© Melissa Lyttle/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

September 23, 2017 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. - Danielle 'Dani' Lierow during an outing at Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro. A feral child was found starving, covered in her own filth, unable to walk or talk. A new family adopted the girl in 2007, called her Dani, and tried to make up for years of neglect.
© Lara Cerri/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

February 3, 2008 - Plant City, Florida, U.S. - When DANI LIEROW was removed from her biological mom's house at the age of 7, she was still wearing a diaper and being bottle fed. Part of the therapy she receives involves learning how to perform simple daily tasks, like scooping food up with a spoon and using a fork to stab at some of her favorite foods, green beans and tater tots. She has also graduated to eating solid foods.
© Melissa Lyttle/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

September 23, 2017 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. - BERNIE LIEROW picks out a new sweater for his daughter, DANIELLE 'DANI' LIEROW, during a nineteenth birthday outing. A feral child was found starving, covered in her own filth, unable to walk or talk. A new family adopted the girl in 2007, called her Dani, and tried to make up for years of neglect.
© Lara Cerri/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

February 3, 2008 - Plant City, Florida, U.S. - Two of BERNIE LIEROW'S favorite things are giving his daughter DANI, 9, kisses and hugs, even if she can't give them back. He has high hopes for her life, though he knows he may not be able to fix everything for her. For the first seven years of her life, Danielle never saw the sun, felt the wind or tasted solid food. She was kept in a closet in a Plant City apartment, cloistered in darkness, left in a dirty diaper, fed only with a bottle. 'She was a ferral child,' said Carolyn Eastman of the Tampa heart Gallery. 'We'd never seen a case like that.'
© Melissa Lyttle/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

September 23, 2017 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. - DANIELLE 'DANI' LIEROW eyes a cupcake that her father, BERNIE LIEROW gives to her at a state park. A feral child was found starving, covered in her own filth, unable to walk or talk. A new family adopted the girl in 2007, called her Dani, and tried to make up for years of neglect.
© Lara Cerri/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

February 3, 2008 - Plant City, Florida, U.S. - On the half hour drive south to horse therapy, DANI, 9, stares out of the window of her family's SUV, while her brother WILLIE, 10, tries to provoke a giggle through tickling her. Willie was used to living like an only child, with his four older brothers already out of the house, but his selflessness and their closeness in age, has led them to develop a unique brother-sister bond.
© Melissa Lyttle/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

September 23, 2017 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. - BERNIE LIEROW visits his daughter, DANIELLE 'DANI' LIEROW, at a residential group home in Murfreesboro. A feral child was found starving, covered in her own filth, unable to walk or talk. A new family adopted the girl in 2007, called her Dani, and tried to make up for years of neglect.
© Lara Cerri/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

February 2, 2008 - Plant City, Florida, U.S. - - DANIELLE LIEROW taught herself to swim in her family's pool. Her parents Bernie and Diane think she loves the sense of freedom that the water has to offer.
© Melissa Lyttle/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire

September 23, 2017 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. - DANIELLE 'DANI' LIEROW visits with her father, BERNIE LIEROW, during a nineteenth birthday outing at a state park. A feral child was found starving, covered in her own filth, unable to walk or talk. A new family adopted the girl in 2007, called her Dani, and tried to make up for years of neglect.
© Lara Cerri/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage.com via ZUMA Wire