2 sisters die after climbing into parked car

Shawn Day

The Arizona Republic
Aug. 16, 2003 09:39 PM

Two young sisters were found dead inside a car parked behind their Queen Creek home Saturday afternoon.

Samantha and Kaitlynn Mills, ages 2 and 4, were not breathing and had no pulse when a family member found them in the backseat and called police at 5:49 p.m., Pinal County Sheriff's Commander Jerald Monahan said.

The girls had been outside playing while their father and grandfather worked on a car in front of the house in the 4500 block of East Rolling Ridge Road. They apparently climbed inside the broken-down car parked in the back yard, Monahan said. Family members realized they hadn't seen the girls for about 45 minutes and began searching for them.

Temperatures in the area reached 99 degrees Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Family members, police and paramedics tried to resuscitate the girls before they were flown to Desert Samaritan Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead, Monahan said.

Richard Cisneros, 17, lives next door to the Mills family and described them as "kind of to themselves, but a nice family."

"It's a really, really sad thing, but accidents happen," Cisneros said. "I'm pretty sure this was an accident."

Reach the reporter at shawn.day@arizonarepublic.com.

Find this article at:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0816twokids17.html

Heat deaths of sisters appear to be accident

Trapped in old car on family property

Emily Bittner
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 18, 2003 12:00 AM

QUEEN CREEK - Samantha and Kaitlynn Mills were inseparable playmates.

The Queen Creek girls, who were 2 and 4 years old, died together as they played together Saturday afternoon when they were trapped in a broken-down car in their yard in the 4500 block of East Rolling Ridge Road.

"They're always together, the two of them, always together," said Ana Cisneros, 40, whose daughter, Kelly, 6, often played with the girls. "It's so sad, they're like children to us."

"Yesterday they were playing," Cisneros said, pointing to a swing set beside the house. "It's just such a shock. They were so full of life."

Family members were unavailable for comment.

Pinal County sheriff's spokesman Mike Minter said the girls told their mother they were going outside the family's mobile home to visit with their father and grandfather, who were working on another vehicle. The girls instead went to the car and climbed inside after Kaitlynn opened the door. About 45 minutes later, their mother found them lying in the back seat. Investigators have yet to determine why the girls couldn't get out.

The Pinal County Attorney's Office likely will not file criminal charges against the parents, Minter said. Investigators believe the deaths were accidental and did not involve foul play. "Both parents are just devastated," he said.

Autopsies on the girls were expected by Tuesday.

Although the temperature Saturday reached about 99 degrees, the combination of heat and lack of oxygen while the girls were in the car for at least half an hour could have proved fatal, authorities said.

"It's not a real tenable situation for human life in there," said Mike Winters, a spokesman for Rural/Metro Fire Department, which responded to the 911 call.

Winters urged parents to know where their children are at all times, even when they believe another parent might be watching.