'Home alone' parents held

Chicago (Reuter) - A couple who left their daughters aged nine and four home alone while they flew to Mexico for a Christmas holiday were ordered to be held in jail yesterday and their children were in a foster home.

David and Sharon Schoo were trying to raise dollars 10,000 ( pounds 6,500) in cash for a bail bond, their lawyer said. The two were charged with abandonment, cruelty to children and child endangerment after their arrest on Tuesday when their flight from Acapulco landed at O'Hare Airport. The plight of the children came to light on 21 December after a smoke alarm was set off in their house.