MESA, Ariz. -- A Mesa mother was arrested after her two young children were found wandering in the parking lot of their apartment complex.

Police said a neighbor spotted the kids at the complex near University Drive and Gilbert Road. Their mother was nowhere to be found.

Investigators said when the finally figured out which apartment the 2-year-old and 3-year-old lived in, the found the door wide open and feces all over the floor.

"I'm told there was a lock on the refrigerator and there was more beer than food in that fridge," said Sgt. Ed Wessing, a spokesman for the Mesa Police Department.

Police said they saw the younger child go directly to the pantry and start eating dog food.

“We don’t know if this child routinely eats dog food, but I can tell you when our officers felt bad enough they went and purchased food themselves out of their own money and brought it to these kids, they ate it like they were extremely hungry," said Wessing.

Samantha Abernathy, 20, the children’s mother, was booked for child endangerment. Investigators said Abernathy, who worked at Centerfold Cabaret, claimed to have left around 2 a.m. on Sunday to help a friend. Court records show she returned at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday -- nearly 9 hours later -- and did not find anyone to watch her kids.

"How could you possibly leave a 2 and 3-year old alone for five minutes, let alone more than eight hours, and that’s what she's admitting to. It could be longer,” said Sgt. Wessing. “How many times has this happened?"