In something that sounds like a horror movie, a boy was found with a dead chicken around his neck by a deputy. When the deputy investigated, dogs were released and he was chased off the property.

An 11-year-old North Carolina boy was found handcuffed to a porch in freezing weather with a dead chicken around his neck. His foster parents, Harper and Wanda Sue Larson, who is a social services supervisor and a nurse, has been jailed on child abuse charges.

Sheriff's Capt. Ronnie Whitaker said the boy was found this morning at around 9:30 a.m. ET. A deputy found the boy in frigid temperatures and began to question the boy's foster parent, Dorian Lee Harper, when another child opened the door and released dogs that chased the deputy off the property. The boy's foster parent is an emergency room nurse and a supervisor with the Union County Department of Social Services.

The deputy called for backup. Deputies searched the home and found five children, ages 14, 13, 11, 9 and 8. Four of the children had been adopted by Harper and Wanda Sue Larson, 57, and the couple had been fostering the fifth child, who had been discovered handcuffed to the porch.

Sheriff Eddie Cathey told CNN  "We're very familiar with (Larson). My agents have worked with her often. She handles a lot of the social services cases out here throughout all of Union County. We're shocked."

The deputies removed all the children from the home and charged the parents with intentional child abuse, inflicting serious injury, false imprisonment and cruelty to animals. Larson also faces charges of willful failure to discharge her duty as a public official. Her bail was set at $525,000. Harper's bail was set to $500,000. The couple face hearings Monday.

Harper was placed on administrative leave, according to the North Carolina Healthcare System.

Sheriff Cathey told reporters "I can assure you that we have only just begun our investigation into what has happened, and we will pursue it to its fullest extent."