Baby's Body Found in Hot Car after Grandma Thinks She Left 4-Month-Old at Daycare
The loss of a child is devastating. But when that loss could have easily been avoided, the tragedy is even more heart breaking.
One Oklahoma grandmother was scheduled to take her 4-month old granddaughter to daycare. Her granddaughter never arrived.
On a hot August day, as the grandmother left work to pick up her granddaughter at daycare, she received a shock. Apparently, she had never been dropped off.
In confusion, the staff began to check the building for the little girl but could not find her. Then they raced out to the grandmother’s car, parked in the parking lot. What they discovered was horrifying.
Out in the closed-up car, sat the tiny child. She had been there all day with outside temperatures up in the high 80s.
As police arrived, they discovered that the girl had died due to the heat.
It’s every parent, grandparent, or caretaker’s worst nightmare: that the precious life you are charged with could somehow be jeopardized because of you and your actions.
It was a horrible discovery for all involved, and will leave its mark on those who worked with her, those who loved her, and those who transported her to her final resting place.
While it’s been repeated ad nauseam, it’s still true: a car can be an extremely dangerous place in the summer. For as long as people continue to die because of this fact, the fact will bear repeating.
Heat can enter through the windshield and be trapped by insulation inside of the car. In 20 minutes, a temperature of 75 degrees on the outside can go up to 100 degrees on the inside.
The grandmother, who had custody of the child, was in tears. “She apparently had thought that she dropped off the child this morning, which she had not,” said a spokesman with the Oklahoma County sheriff’s office.
In the face of this tragedy, the daycare posted a message on their Facebook page. “A tragic accident with one of our beloved babies. I ask everyone to pray for this precious family.” But the sheriff’s office would like the incident to be a warning to other parents.
Update on child death from OCSO @OKCFOX pic.twitter.com/Cl1erPT6OB
— Jennifer Falsetti (@JenniferFOX25) August 5, 2017
According to Kids In Cars, every year 37 children die needlessly after being left in cars. It is a senseless and avoidable tragedy.
No charges were brought against the grandmother. By all accounts, this looks like a heartbreaking mistake.
A representative from the sheriff’s office said, “She’s being questioned, she’s obviously distraught, this is a tragic situation and that’s why we remind parents all the time. It’s hot out and things like this aren’t supposed to happen, but they do.”
It seems simple enough: make sure that your children are not left in the car alone. With the busy world that we live in, don’t forget that our children should be our priority.
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