Police in Missouri have provided more details about the 11-month-old girl who died in a hot car after being left there for more than 15 hours.
First responders were then called to the home in Calverton Park at around 4:30 p.m. on June 2, finding Joseline Eichelberger not breathing in the car, which was in the driveway of the home.
They were not able to resuscitate her.
“Unfortunately the child passed away from the heat,” Robertson told the news outlet. “It was approximately 79 degrees that afternoon and inside a vehicle, it gets much hotter. The timeline looks to be about 15 or 16 hours the child was left in the vehicle.”
“It is absolutely heartbreaking when you have a life lost at any age, but when it is a child this young it really hits home for most people,” he stated. “We see these stories regularly especially when the heat starts to rise.”
The mother didn’t see her again until about 16 hours later, he said.
Calverton Park police said that no charges have been filed in the case, but they are expected, according to KSDK.
“You have two young parents. One telling one to get the child and other telling the other..you know mistakes are made,” said family friend Barbara Beckett in the report. “It’s a nightmare, they are traumatized. They can’t stop crying.”
“I feel like a piece of my heart is gone because she was a part of me,” Joseline’s cousin, Lilly Bellfield, told the station.
According to local reports, Joseline was slated to have her birthday over the coming weekend.
Dangerous Situation
Heatkills.org, citing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says that temperatures range between 80 and 100 degrees, the interior of the car can get to 130 to 172 degrees.“Children have died in cars with the temperature as low as 63 degrees. Basically, the car becomes a greenhouse. At 70 degrees on a sunny day, after a half hour, the temperature inside a car is 104 degrees. After an hour, it can reach 113 degrees,” stated Jan Null, adjunct professor at San Francisco State University, according to the website.
Meanwhile, Safecar.gov offers advice to parents:
-Always check the back seats of your vehicle before your lock it and walk away.
-Keep a stuffed animal or other memento in your child’s car seat when it’s empty, and move it to the front seat as a visual reminder when your child is in the back seat.
-If someone else is driving your child, or your daily routine has been altered, always check to make sure your child has arrived safely.
-Experts have noted that a car’s temperature can rise 20 degrees Fahrenheit in under 10 minutes.
