Crying baby suffering from hypothermia is rescued from an abandoned stolen car in south Minneapolis

A baby boy suffering from hypothermia was rescued from an abandoned stolen car in south Minneapolis shortly after sunrise Tuesday, officials said.

The temperature was barely in the double digits about 8:10 a.m. when police were sent to the 2400 block of S. Oakland Avenue, where the 6-month-old boy was found alone, police said.

"The child was not dressed for the weather conditions," police said in a statement late Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday, police said they were investigating how long the baby was left alone in the cold.

The child reportedly was crying and not in a baby seat when found in a residential neighborhood. Emergency medical responders took him to HCMC for treatment of hypothermia, police said. They said his condition was not believed to be life-threatening.

Police know the identities of the child and his mother but have not yet said how he was left alone in the car.

According to police records, a 911 caller said about 8:25 a.m. that a woman in the nearby 2100 block of S. Portland Avenue had told her she had left her 6-month-old in a car and was trying to find the vehicle. The caller said the woman was in her early 30s.

This case is among a handful in the Twin Cities since early last year involving children put in peril in connection with a stolen vehicle.

On Jan. 7 in Minneapolis, an SUV was left running and stolen with a 1-year-old boy inside from S. Bloomington Avenue and E. Lake Street . Early that evening, Brooklyn Park police said, a 911 hang-up caller led officers to the boy, who was returned to his family uninjured.

On Feb. 28, 2021, also in Minneapolis, an SUV with a 2-year-old girl inside was stolen from the 500 block of E. Hennepin Avenue. Police said two hours later that the girl was found unharmed but offered no further details.

On Feb. 6, 2021, an SUV with a 1-year-old strapped in a rear car seat was stolen about 12:40 p.m. in north Minneapolis after his mother ran inside a house in the 4200 block of N. Humboldt Avenue. When she returned, the vehicle was gone.