BLAINE, Minn., 2:33 p.m. EDT July 11, 2001 -- More details emerged Wednesday about the events that lead to the death of a 4-month-old left in a minivan in a bank parking lot in a Twin Cities suburb Tuesday.
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Meanwhile, the 38-year-old father who apparently left the boy in the van in the parking lot of a bank in Blaine, a suburb north of Minneapolis, hasn't been arrested and no charges have been filed against him.
Here is the chain of events that police say led to the boy being left in the minivan with the windows shut for at least eight hours as temperatures rose through the day, reaching a peak of 95 degrees in the late afternoon:
The father says he left the house with his wife, their 1-year-old child and the 4-month-old boy. He says he dropped his wife at the bus stop, the 1-year-old at day care, and then arrived at work at 7:30 a.m., exited his minivan with his son still inside and walked into work.
He told police that it wasn't until he received a phone call from them at about 3:30 p.m. that he told police he realized the boy was still in the car.
It was David Kuntz, a passerby, who noticed the child in the van and called 911. "The windows were closed. There were no adults in the vehicle. So I thought something had to be done, obviously," Kuntz (pictured, right) said.
Police arrived, found the baby not breathing, and contacted the father at work as they taped off the area around the van and began gathering evidence.
"It was a very difficult scene," Blaine Police Chief Dave Johnson (pictured, left) said, according to Channel 4000. "Our officers are having a difficult time conducting this investigation. The loss of a child under these
circumstances is quite emotional for everyone involved."
It will be up to the Anoka County Attorney to determine if criminal charges should be filed against the father.
The incident occurred a day after for leaving her two children in a hot car for 30 minutes in another Twin Cities suburb. Police say that the mother left two girls, ages 10 months and 2 years, alone in a car in a metro-area strip mall parking lot during last Saturday's 89-degree heat.
The children were found in the car sweating, screaming and crying by a passerby who opened the car door and called 911. Kimberly May Olsen faces a maximum of one year in prison and a $3,000 fine if convicted.
The autopsy on the baby found in Blaine comes on the same day that prosecutors in Perry, Iowa continue toponder charges against a mother who left a 7-month-old girl alone in a sweltering minivan on June 26.
Copyright 2001 by NewsNet5. All rights reserved.
Reprinted/Posted with Permission of NewsNet5