PORTAGE, Wis. -- A group of suspected identity thieves who prosecutors said killed one of their own and abused a child traveled to Wisconsin and rented a house in the quiet community of Portage simply because they wanted to see snow.

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Prosecutors said the group in the past year lived in Florida, Maine, Tennessee, Kentucky and Colorado. Detectives said the group members were fugitives in a number of states.

The alleged crimes at the Portage house have rocked the small central Wisconsin city that touts itself as the place "Where the North Begins."

People have left flowers and candles on the front stoop of the rental house. A new bat and glove was left for the 11-year-old boy who authorities said was found locked in a closet, bloody, burned and tortured.

Investigators said his mother was strangled and buried in the back yard. Her 15-year-old daughter, two women and a man who lived at the house are in custody.

Prosecutors said the dead woman, Tammie Garlin, had a romantic relationship with another woman, Michaela Clerc, who lived in the house, and that Clerc thought Garlin had cheated on her.

The three adults and the 15-year-old girl were charged Wednesday in Columbia County. Candace Clark, 23, Michael Sisk, 25, Clerc, 20, and Felicia Garlin, 15, were charged with being party to first-degree intentional homicide in Tammie Garlin's death, being party to hiding a corpse and being party to physical and mental abuse of a child, among other charges.

The judge set bail at $500,000 for Garlin and $350,000 for Clerc. Bail was denied for Clark and Sisk. If convicted, all four face life in prison, WISC-TV reported.

District Attorney Jane Kohlwey said that Sisk and Clark, a mother of three and Sisk's girlfriend, were the ringleaders in the household.

Kohlwey argued that Felicia Garlin operated as an adult in the household, caring for her 11-year-old brother and three other children when the adults were away.

"She (Felicia Garlin) was left in charge of the others, including Clerc and her own mother and brother and babies when the others were gone -- when Mrs. Clark or Mr. Sisk were gone," Kohlwey said.

The girl, her mother and her brother are originally from Florida, and authorities said that she has no family in Wisconsin aside from her brother. Kohlwey said that the girl was a full participant in the torture of her mother and brother and then in her mother's death.

"I think it's obvious from the complaint why she was charged as a party to the crime rather than perhaps a victim in the household," Kohlwey said. "She was a full participant."

Authorities discovered Tammie Garlin's body on Friday after questioning her daughter Felicia. It's unclear when Tammie Garlin's death occurred, but according to court documents made public on Tuesday, the girl allegedly told authorities that she helped put her mother -- whom she believed was still alive -- into the trunk of a car. The affidavit said that the body was later buried in the back yard, and the girl said that she planted flowers on the site.

Authorities launched an investigation after being alerted by Florida officials that Clark was suspected of abducting her own daughter, of whom she didn't have custody, from Florida. The 2-year-old child was found at the home along with two other children who lived there.

In the course of the investigation, police said that they also found Tammie Garlin's son in a closet at the home. Investigators said that he was malnourished, educationally neglected and had several injuries.

Authorities: Boy Survives Serial Torture

A medical expert said the repeated burns allegedly inflicted on an 11-year-old boy found locked in a closet at a Portage house have mutilated his hands, feet and head.

Court records said a group of five who lived with the boy bound him, put him in a bathtub and poured scalding water over his body at least 10 times. The five included his mother, who was found strangled and buried in the back yard of the home.

A medical expert said that burns on the boy's hands were so bad that it caused mummification and restricted use of his fingers.

The doctor's examination determined that the boy suffered serial torture, having been whipped daily with belts and an extension cord. A complaint said the adults at the house also choked him until his eyes closed and forced him to drink gallons of water until he passed out.

The boy was found naked and huddled in a closet last Thursday after police went to the home to check on a report of a kidnapped 2-year-old.

The boy was found profoundly malnourished and said that he was given only one meal a day, authorities said. The doctor concluded the boy had also been neglected medically and educationally.

Authorities said that the injuries were so extensive that a physical exam couldn't be completed because it was too painful for the boy, WISC-TV reported.

Authorities said the boy told the doctor, "I don't want to hurt anymore."

Hospital officials declined to update the boy's condition.

Complaint Reveals Relationships Between Suspects

Details unveiled in a Columbia County courtroom Wednesday shed light on the relationships between those renting the small Portage house and how the group of three adults and five minors met and ended up in Wisconsin.

At the house on West Oneida Street, authorities found a missing 2-year-old Florida girl -- along with her mother, Candace Clark, her mother's boyfriend Michael Sisk and the couple's two other children.

Also at the home was Michaela Clerc, who police said was the former lover of Tammie Garlin, the woman who was killed.

Investigators said that Clerc dated Tammie Garlin for about four years in Florida before meeting Clark and Sisk online.

"In 2006, sometime in the summer months, they (Clerc and Tammie Garlin) split up. When they split up, that's when (Clerc) met Candace online," said Lt. Mark Hahn of the Portage Police Department.

The criminal complaint said that Clerc hated Tammie Garlin because she had allegedly cheated on her. Authorities said that she has a history of mental health problems.

Court documents said that at first, Tammie Garlin was a participant in the torture of her 11-year-old son. He was found in a closet of the home with burns from hot water and injuries from beatings. Authorities said that at some point, the four suspects turned on Tammie Garlin and began abusing her. The complaint said Tammie Garlin was kicked and shut in a closet with her 11-year-old son.

Authorities didn't elaborate on possible motives.

In another twist, authorities said the missing 2-year-old girl from Florida -- Candace Clark's daughter -- was being cared for by Clerc's parents. Clerc's parents were the ones who reported the 2-year-old girl's abduction in Florida, authorities said.

Authorities said that Sisk was arrested last week in Milwaukee while trying to flee for Kentucky on a Greyhound bus. Investigators said he came close to escaping.

"That was so close. We were told that the actual bus was delayed from departing. If it would have departed on time, he would have been gone," Hahn said.

Authorities: Group Participated In Identity Theft Scams

Authorities said that the group apparently supported themselves with several identity theft scams and the four operated under several aliases.

Kohlwey said that investigators found numerous money orders for $500 inside the Oneida Street home. Kohlwey wouldn't specify how many money orders were found, or give a total dollar amount, but did say that the money orders were obtained under false pretenses, WISC-TV reported.

The district attorney said that Clark is the only one currently facing charges of financial fraud. Clark is currently wanted in Kentucky on an identity theft charge.

Kohlwey also said that Felicia Garlin was involved in the scams and that the girl recently bought a plane ticket from Maine to Alaska under a false name.

Kohlwey said that the way all these people came together in Florida and Colorado was as random as the reason they came to Wisconsin. The criminal complaint said that the four suspects, the murder victim and the 11-year-old boy came to the state because they wanted to see snow.

Local Banks Take Donations

Community members are collecting donations for the children who lived in the house. Organizers encourage people to label all envelopes with "C/O Portage Cares" under the address.

Portage National Bank
2380 New Pinery Rd.
Portage, WI 53901

AMCORE Bank
611 E. Wisconsin St.
Portage, WI 53901

AMCORE Bank
2851 New Pinery Rd.
Portage, WI 53901

Associated Bank
222 E. Wisconsin St.
Portage WI 53901

Community Bank of Portage
2930 New Pinery Rd.
Portage, WI 53901

Stay tuned to WISC-TV and Channel 3000 for continuing coverage.