Curiosity
Toddler found in trunk: Heat likely killed Wisconsin toddler
Toddler found in trunk
Wisconsin residents were shocked Wednesday when a missing toddler was found dead in the trunk of a car outside his parents’ home.
2-year old Isaiah Theis of Balsam Lake had been missing since Tuesday night, CBS News reported.
After he disappeared from his family’s residence, police, along with over 2000 civilian volunteers searched through the heat in an attempt to locate the missing boy.
Although investigators had looked inside the vehicle several times during the search, they declined to open the trunk by force.
The car belonged to a customer of his fathers car repair business. Isaiah’s grandmother told press that the children often played around the shop.
Chief Deputy Steve Moe said that investigators were told that Isaiah had probably wandered off the property and that the cars seemed like an unlikely place for the toddler to be located.
The cars were locked and the investigators did not have the keys on the scene. An autopsy was conducted on the body to shed light on the mysterious death.
Investigators believe the boy may have succumbed to hypothermia and showed no life threatening injuries, according to an Associated Press report.
Sheriff Peter Johnson called the boy’s death “a terrible” conclusion to the long search for him, WCCO-AM of Minneapolis reported.
“Obviously this is pretty much the worst ending we could have come to,” Johnson said Friday at the end of a news conference, where he read a statement about the autopsy but did not take questions. “The only thing worse would have been if we would have never found him.”
According to ABC News, nearly 2,450 volunteers helped search the fields and woods surrounding the family’s home throughout the day Wednesday, the sheriff said.
Debbra White, 51, of Milltown, Wis., left a teddy bear and a wind chime at a makeshift memorial near the scene. White told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that she lost her 8-year-old son more than 20 years ago when he drowned in the St. Croix River.
“There’s nothing I can say to bring their son back,” White said.
The police are still investigating to determine if foul play was involved in the death of the young boy.
According to a database maintained by U.S. meteorologist and car hyperthermia expert Jan Null, more than a dozen kids are confirmed to have died in hot cars in the U.S. since May.
Debbra and Roy White and their son Dalton, 16, left a stuffed animal near the spot where a missing 2-year-old boy was found dead in the trunk of a vehicle in Centuria, Wisc., Thursday, July 18, 2013 They had been coming to help in the search when they found the boy was found dead. Two-year-old Isaiah Theis disappeared Tuesday night. A Polk County sheriff’s deputy found his body Wednesday evening in the trunk of a locked vehicle near Isaiah’s home near Centuria. Searchers had looked into the car and checked the area around it several times, Sheriff Peter Johnson said in a statement. About 2,450 civilian volunteers helped search the fields and woods surrounding the family’s home throughout the day Wednesday, the sheriff said. (AP Photo/Star Tribune, Glenn Stubbe)
Karen Murphy holds her granddaughter Liliana Kolb 4, during a vigil for two year-old Isaiah Theis, Thursday, July 18, 2013 in Centuria, Wis. Two-year-old Isaiah Theis disappeared Tuesday night. A Polk County sheriff’s deputy found his body about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday in the trunk of a locked car parked outside the boy’s home where his father repairs cars when the owner came to retrieve it. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Kyndell Harkness) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT
On The Web:
Toddler Found In Trunk, Isaiah Theis, Likely Died From Heat; Wisconsin Toddler’s Cause of Death ‘Probable Hyperthermia’ [PHOTO]
http://www.ibtimes.com/toddler-found-trunk-isaiah-theis-likely-died-heat-wisconsin-toddlers-cause-death-probable-1353777
Missing Wis. toddler found dead in car trunk
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57594452/missing-wis-toddler-found-dead-in-car-trunk/
AUTOPSY SHOWS WISCONSIN TODDLER DIED FROM HEAT
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TODDLER_DEATH_TRUNK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Autopsy Shows Wis. Toddler Died From Heat
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/officials-probe-dead-wis-toddler-trunk-19706137
Isaiah Theis Body Found In Car Trunk, Bypassed In Police Search
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/19/isaiah-theis-body-found-car-trunk-missed-police-search_n_3622508.html
