A pink and purple “Dora the Explorer” blanket hung in an open window at a house on Sunset Drive late Tuesday afternoon as cold rain fell to the ground.
Other windows and the front door of the red brick house were also open, apparently to air out the fumes of methamphetamine.
In the home, where a 6-year-old girl was living, deputies with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office – after executing a search warrant – discovered three people were cooking methamphetamine in the basement.
Three social workers took the girl into protective custody, and Deborah Tandy, James Sams and James Lunsford were taken to jail.
“The ultimate thing is the child is safe,” Sheriff Pat Melton said. “We got her out of harms way.”
Tandy, 49, is charged with possession of methamphetamine, possessing drug paraphernalia, first-degree wanton endangerment, manufacturing methamphetamine and controlled substance endangerment to a child.
Lunsford, 31, is charged with manufacturing methamphetamine and controlled substance endangerment to a child.
Sams, 37, was charged with controlled substance endangerment to a child, manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine. He is also a registered sex offender for third-degree rape of a 14-year-old.
As sheriff’s deputies were en route to execute the search warrant at 184 Sunset Drive, the trio and the girl left the house in a vehicle.
Deputies pulled them over on U.S. 460 near Westover Road and found methamphetamine and other controlled substances in the vehicle. The adults were then arrested.
Two black pit bulls barked ferociously in the backyard of the home as officials secured the scene, occasionally coughing from the fumes as they exited the house.
Traffic was blocked to one lane at times, with deputy and police vehicles, a fire truck and a Kentucky State Police vehicle and trailer occupying road space.
At about 6 p.m., as the rain turned to snow, three state police officials slipped into white hazard suits and light blue gloves, strapped masks to their faces and entered the home to clean up the lab.
Melton said the suspects were making the drug in a cornered off part of the basement with a toaster oven and microwave.
Deputies discovered a quantity of methamphetamine, cash, a rifle and pistol inside the east Frankfort home.
Methamphetamine was also found in Tandy’s purse.
Lunsford is being held on a $50,000 bond, Tandy on $70,200 bond and Sams on $60,000 bond.
Melton said the investigation is ongoing, and more charges are possible.
The sheriff’s office received a tip last month from its text message tip line about the active meth lab.
“The community is tired of it. The community is tired of the drug dealers,” Melton said. “We’re getting a ton of information to help our investigations.”
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