Two people were arrested and three children were taken from a North Side home last night after city police found them living in what they described as "deplorable conditions" among piles of garbage bags, stacks of dirty dishes and the stench of rotting food.

The children, all girls ages 1, 3 and 12, were taken to Children's Hospital for evaluation.

Beverly Pettus, 60, and Bobby McGhee, 57, face charges of endangering the welfare of a child, police said.

Officers were called to the home in the 400 block of North Taylor Avenue after a passer-by spotted one of the children wandering in the rain without shoes. Police said the house was dirty and asked to come inside, where they found hallways full of dirty clothes, garbage bags piled on the floor, trash strewn about and fly catchers full of dead flies, police said.

It was unclear last night if Ms. Pettus and Mr. McGhee were related to the children.