Baby left alone in minivan dies in Grand Forks

The mother thought she dropped her off at day care.

By Bob Von Sternberg, Star Tribune

Last update: June 30, 2006 - 3:44 PM

It happened again Wednesday.

A mother in Grand Forks, N.D., arrived at her day care center to pick up her 5-month-old daughter, only to be told the child wasn't there.

Adrea Boe frantically dashed to her minivan and found Kate strapped in her car seat. She was dead, most likely of hyperthermia, after spending the entire day in the vehicle.

"It's just tragic, but people forget their children, and you can only sympathize," said Michele Struttmann, founder of the Missouri-based Kids in Cars advocacy group. "A car can virtually turn into an oven, so parents have to remember cars aren't made for children."

Kate is the eighth child to die nationwide this year in an overheated vehicle, according to the Kids in Cars database. Since 2003, a total of 127 have died, according to news media accounts that the group tracks.

The high temperature in Grand Forks on Wednesday was 78 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Police said Boe, 34, of Grand Forks, thought she had dropped off Kate at the Wonder Years 2 care center before going to work Wednesday morning. When Boe arrived back at the center about 5:30 p.m., staff members told her she had never dropped off the baby.

"When she came into the building to pick her up, we told her the baby wasn't here today," said Curt Kreun, the day care center's owner. " 'But I dropped her off,' she said, and when she realized what happened ran out to the car."

Day care center staff members administered CPR, as did paramedics summoned by the staff.

"The paramedics got authority to cease the CPR," Kreun said. "It seems she passed away a considerable time before. It was very difficult for the staff here, very difficult for the parents."

He said passersby wouldn't have been able to see the baby in the van because its windows were tinted. "I walked around that van about 14 times after they left, and you would not have been able to see in there," he said.

Kreun said police are "looking at it as a tragic accident," he said. "This is by far the most devastating thing I've had to witness."

Grand Forks Police Lt. Rahn Farder said the case remains under investigation. "It's way too early to tell if there will be charges or not. The mother and the witnesses will be interviewed. It's a tragic situation, and we have to do our job and be respectful of that."

Last summer, two young children in South Dakota and Minnesota died after their fathers left them in cars at work. In both cases, authorities said, the fathers meant to take their children to day care but forgot. No charges were filed in either case.

Because the death toll of children in cars is not tracked by any state or federal agency, Struttmann said she believes her compilation of cases is most likely low. "We don't catch every case, but until the government looks into this we won't know its real significance."

Kreun said his staff members "constantly" stress child-safety issues.

"We put out reminders all the time, on everything from cars to seat belts to guns. You always try to remind parents, but people get busy or they get distracted and these things happen. It's one of those scenarios that's just not good."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Bob von Sternberg • 612-673-7184