US: Twin infants found dead after being left in vehicle for nearly 9 hours outside creche

Twenty-month-old twin boys in the United States were found dead on September 1 after being left in a hot SUV for nine hours, Richland County Coroner’s Office said. According to NY Post, the twins namely Brayden and Bryson McDaniel were found by one of their parents in a car parked outside Sunshine House Early Learning Academy daycare in Blythewood, South Carolina. The toddlers were found in the rear-facing car seats of their parents' SUV, after one of the parents likely forgot to drop off the children at the daycare centre.

While speaking at a news conference, Coroner Naida Rutherford announced that the identical twins likely died of heatstroke. However, she also added that the exact cause of death has still not been confirmed. Rutherford informed that the parents likely forgot to drop the children off at daycare in the morning and went to work. They were found to have been in the vehicle all day, she said. 

Further, Rutherford said that the evidence which investigators have collected till now reveals that the staff at the daycare was not involved. The coroner’s office is working with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department and the South Carolina Department of Social Services to investigate and pin down a more exact timeline. Rutherford said that the coroner’s new child fatality team is also part of the investigation. 

Further testing underway

During the news conference, the official informed that she personally attended the autopsy and said that the twins “seem to be well taken care of by their family.” Exams of their bodies found no signs of abuse or neglect along with one lung abnormality that requires further testing. Rutherford said, “If this is an unfortunate accident, we pray that the family one day finds peace.” She even added that the authorities are continuing to investigate the tragic incident. “We have two very distraught parents.”

But she also said, “If this was indeed a criminal act, we pray for justice.”

While speaking to The State, Kids and Car Safety said that the temperature inside the car could have been as high as 120 degrees. Now, testing is being done to confirm or rule out the children dying from poison or drugs. Until confirmation of a heatstroke, the children’s death is listed as pending further studies. 

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