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Virginia dad kills self after toddler son found dead in car, police say

cigaretteman

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May 29, 2001
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Police are investigating the death of an 18-month-old boy who died Tuesday after being left unattended in a vehicle for several hours. The boy’s father later committed suicide, Chesterfield County police said.
“It’s just a tragedy on so many levels,” said police Lt. Col. Christopher Hensley. “Our hearts go out to the family and friends that are going to deal with this.”
Officers began their investigation at 11:42 a.m. after receiving reports of a child being left in a family vehicle.




Hensley said police were in contact with the child’s mother and relatives who said the boy may be in danger after they learned he had not been dropped off at day care. The family indicated to police that the boy’s father was making suicidal statements, police said.

Police were told the vehicle may be located at the father’s home in the 14100 block of Aldengate Road.

“Other people contacted us [and said] we needed to respond to that address, to check on his welfare, and that’s when things unfolded,” said Hensley



Officers discovered the vehicle, but nothing was inside except an empty car seat, Hensley said.


Police then entered the home, where they found the 18-month-old boy dead. The boy’s father was discovered shortly after in the woods behind the house with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Hensley said police believe the father left the child in the vehicle for several hours before discovering the boy was dead. When he discovered the child, he returned home, took the child inside, exited his home and shot himself, police said.

Authorities have not released the identities of the father and son.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at (804) 748-1251 or Crime Solvers at (804) 748-0660.
And for additional information on suicide prevention, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or text ‘HELLO’ to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.

 
Man, I can't imagine going through that - agree with Keehawk: I might do the same thing if it were me and that happened.

I had an acquaintance from college that accidentally left his kid in the car and the baby died. The guy didn't off himself, but I would imagine that he still thinks about it every single day and is constantly haunted by it. He isn't/wasn't a bad guy - it's just something that I guess happens to people.
 
What a horrible story. I think I would do the same thing if I did that. How excruciating for the baby and the father and the rest of the family as well.

I always wonder what I would do if I lost one of my kids. I know if I lost all 3 of them, I'd probably drink myself to death.
 
I don't understand why people leave their kids in a car.
I always thought that too. Then one day I went to the store and got almost all the way in the door and suddenly remembered my son. Scared the shit out of me. Still makes me emotional typing this 15 years later. I always had empathy since that day for people that have this happen.
 
None of them mean to. They just space out on its being there for some reason, especially if it's not a normal routing for them to have the child along with them.
Yeah, I think it's often a combination of it not being the normal routine, having 1,000 things going on at a time, rushing to get from one task to the next, etc.
 
Does anybody else find this story difficult to follow? What was the sequence of events?
It is. Sounds like the parents are divorced. Daycare called mom to tell her the baby was not dropped off. Police go to father’s house to find two bodies and assume baby was left in car. But left in car for several hours?
 
Does anybody else find this story difficult to follow? What was the sequence of events?

A little bit. It reads like the father was already making suicidal threats somewhere, went home with the child, the child left in car and died, and the father killed himself.
 
It is. Sounds like the parents are divorced. Daycare called mom to tell her the baby was not dropped off. Police go to father’s house to find two bodies and assume baby was left in car. But left in car for several hours?

And where was it parked initially? It says he "returned home", but from where? And the family said he was making suicidal statements - when was that?

Just a scrambled mess of a story.
 
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And where was it parked initially? It says he "returned home", but from where? And the family said he was making suicidal statements - when was that?

Just a scrambled mess of a story.
My first instinct was possibly a murder suicide. But changed after read other posts.
 
Sad story all around...

You would think with today's technology someone would have developed a sensor/alarm that would tie into the car seat and key fob...like if the key fob is outside the car and the pressure plate under the car seat is still down (meaning kid is still in it) the cars alarm system would go off and it would send a message to your cell phone(s) after say 5 minutes?
 
There's a 0% chance I don't off myself if I'm responsible for the death of my son. No way I could spend 30-40 years living with that.
 
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Sad story all around...

You would think with today's technology someone would have developed a sensor/alarm that would tie into the car seat and key fob...like if the key fob is outside the car and the pressure plate under the car seat is still down (meaning kid is still in it) the cars alarm system would go off and it would send a message to your cell phone(s) after say 5 minutes?
We have a GMC Terrain and it beeps when you turn it off and a message to check the back seat pops up if someone is sitting there.
 
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Most people who leave their kids in a car would piss hot. C’mon. For every decent person who made this mistake there’s 3 twacked out idiots.

Nope not even remotely close. Only 60% of cases reach a level of criminal negligence of all kinds and that would include not just people high, but alcoholics, schizophrenics and other mental illnesses. 40% are simply accidents.

 
Nope. Don’t know where you’d find such a statistic. I’m confident the guy in this story was on drugs. Forgot my kid for a couple hours?

It took me one search on Safari to find the actual statistics. Try to learn something before you spout off.
 
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Sad story all around...

You would think with today's technology someone would have developed a sensor/alarm that would tie into the car seat and key fob...like if the key fob is outside the car and the pressure plate under the car seat is still down (meaning kid is still in it) the cars alarm system would go off and it would send a message to your cell phone(s) after say 5 minutes?
I'm not sure people would bother with it. Nobody thinks they're going to forget their kid until they do.
 
I've heard advice online saying that you should put your phone in the back seat with your baby so you'll remember. If that isn't sad, I don't know what is.
 
I've heard advice online saying that you should put your phone in the back seat with your baby so you'll remember. If that isn't sad, I don't know what is.

I leave my phone in the car too. It's all about routine and distractions, really. Once you have those two enter the equation anyone can forget to do something or be flustered when their routine doesn't go as planned.

Thankfully, all of my kids can successfully unbuckle themselves and get out of the car. I'm more worried about someone getting their fingers shut in the door now.
 
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Sad story all around...

You would think with today's technology someone would have developed a sensor/alarm that would tie into the car seat and key fob...like if the key fob is outside the car and the pressure plate under the car seat is still down (meaning kid is still in it) the cars alarm system would go off and it would send a message to your cell phone(s) after say 5 minutes?
My lexus tells me to check the back seat if I leave a package of a bit of weight on the seat.
 
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