By EDIE HALL

The Hutchinson News

NESS CITY -- One black tennis shoe lies on the deteriorating porch leading to the yellow and white trailer home at 412 S. Kansas.

Next to it, two tires lying in a pile encircle a dirt-covered rubber ball -- the kind with which a child could occupy an afternoon.

The windowless front door is hidden from view by an overgrown climbing vine and an evergreen tree that litters the porch with needles.

A pair of crushed Old Milwaukee cans, a red Murray mountain bike and a broken-down Ford pickup occupy the front yard.

The trailer's windows are filled with pulled-tight curtains. Near a second entrance to the trailer, two inside-out blue medical gloves remain where they fell a few weeks ago when the building -- and its occupants -- became the talk of the town and, now, the nation.

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Inside the white cinder-block building that houses the Ness County Sheriff's Office is a small lobby with five gray straight-back chairs. A handwritten flyer advertising a Narcotics Anonymous meeting is pinned to a bulletin board next to pictures of missing children.

In his office beyond the lobby, Sheriff Bryan Whipple tries to work on other investigations between interruptions.

By 8:30 a.m. Thursday, five radio stations had called for an interview about the case surrounding Kory McFarren and Pam Babcock. The phone lines, Whipple said, have been "flooded" by this case.

On Feb. 27, Whipple's office responded to a call from McFarren, who told police something was wrong with Babcock, his girlfriend.

When police arrived, they found the 35-year-old woman sitting on the toilet.

McFarren told police Babcock, originally from Utica, had not left the restroom for about two years. Police believe she had been sitting on the toilet, to which she physically was stuck, for about a month. Medical personnel had to remove the woman from the toilet seat at the hospital.

McFarren, 36, said Babcock had refused to come out of the bathroom and he had been sustaining her by bringing her food and water. Whipple said he believes McFarren did not call for help earlier because he didn't realize the seriousness of the woman's situation.

Babcock, who initially refused medical attention and did not want to be removed from the bathroom, is now at a Wichita hospital.

She continues to refuse an interview with police. Whipple said doctors have been able to conduct a mental evaluation, although he has not received the results.

Barring an interview with Babcock, the sheriff's office has completed its investigation after interviewing McFarren, medical personnel and relatives of both Babcock and McFarren. The case now is in the hands of Ness County Attorney Craig Crosswhite.

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In her two-story limestone home on South High Street, Ness City resident Michelle Jarner shakes her head at the whole situation. She's sickened no charges have been brought yet.

Most people in Ness City have something to say about the case. Some are angry, some saddened -- but all are shocked this happened in their own town -- a place more than one resident described as "Small Town USA."

Most people know McFarren, but only a few ever had laid eyes on Babcock. In fact, one of McFarren's neighbors said he remembers seeing Babcock years ago when she left the trailer to retrieve the mail. After a while, he no longer saw the young woman and figured she had left McFarren.

Jarner knows McFarren from his job at the local theater -- a hangout for neighborhood children, including her own. David Jarvis, who owns the theater, could not be reached for comment.

Jarner, who has cared for a dependent adult, hates to imagine what Babcock must have been through during the past two years.

She adds that even if Babcock did refuse to leave the bathroom, McFarren or someone should've asked for help much sooner -- a sentiment echoed by many.

"If it was a dog that was found in this condition, no one would stand for it," she said. "Something should be done. It's not that I want to see anything bad happen to Kory (McFarren), but someone needs to be held accountable."

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Large display-case windows frame the door to Crosswhite's downtown office. Various pieces of art fill the windows, and inside Crosswhite sits behind a short desk weighed down with a massive typewriter and cluttered with piles of papers.

With the amount of attention the case is drawing, the county attorney has drafted a written statement he silently can hand to media before quickly returning to work.

The statement reads: "The recent events surrounding the young lady discovered by Ness County law enforcement to have been living in a bathroom in a Ness City residence for over two years are both sensational and tragic. This person is currently being treated at a medical facility in Wichita for life-threatening conditions. My office does not know the full extent of her medical condition, but believes that it is severe.

"After review of the sheriff's office report, I intend to file the necessary legal proceedings in Ness County District Court. At this time, however, the investigation is still open, and I am continuing to receive reports. I am also consulting with the Kansas Attorney General's Office concerning the nature and extent of possible charges which can be pursued."

Earlier this week, Whipple said there was the potential charges of mistreatment of a dependent adult would be filed against McFarren. He recommended charges be filed Thursday.

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Kristopher McFarren stands shirtless on the front porch of his white and black trailer across town from where his brother, Kory, lives.

A chain-link fence surrounds his front yard, which is peppered with food and water dishes for the handful of cats he cares for.

Thursday, Kristopher said, wasn't a good day to try to talk to Kory, who had become overwhelmed by the media attention and was nowhere to be found in Ness City.

Kristopher McFarren didn't want to get involved in the case. He wasn't interested in talking to media and didn't plan on answering his phone anytime soon.

But there was one thing he wanted to say: His brother is not the criminal the media and some townsfolk are making him out to be. And he hoped further investigation into Babcock's past would reveal that.

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Everyone, it seems, has something to say about the case.

In fact, it's making international news. People around the world are reading about Babcock and McFarren, shaking their heads, maybe chuckling a little before going on with the next task of the day.

The case is the main source of news in Ness City, too. But here it's not a passing thought.

At the end of the day, the sheriff still has a woman in the hospital.

The county attorney still has reports to scour.

And citizens still are confronted with a yellow and white trailer, a lot of questions and relatively few answers.