Two children were reportedly found dead inside a parked vehicle in a parking garage in downtown Detroit on Monday, with police believing the kids froze to death.
The Detroit Police Department said a family pulled their van into a parking garage at the Hollywood Casino Hotel at Greektown at around 1:00 a.m. on Monday, and parked on the ninth floor as the vehicle ran out of gas, according to a report by WXYZ.
“They said that they were unsheltered and they didn’t have a residence to go to,” Detroit Police Captain Nathan Duda said.
Five children were asleep in the van, authorities said, adding that at around noon the mother realized that one of her kids, a nine-year-old boy, was not breathing, at which point she called a friend to take him to the Children’s Hospital of Michigan.
But while they were at the hospital, the grandmother noticed that another child, a two-year-old girl, was also not breathing. So the friend came back to the casino parking garage to retrieve the second child and bring her to the hospital as well, police said.
Both children were pronounced dead at the hospital, WXYZ reported.
While the cause of the children’s deaths have not yet been confirmed, police say they believe the kids both froze to death.
“Very sad. Especially as a father, I just can’t imagine what the family is feeling. I wish it wouldn’t have happened,” Duda said.
The other three children were examined and treated at the hospital, and were listed in stable condition on Monday afternoon, the outlet reported.
Interim Police Chief Todd Bettison reportedly noted that he had heard the family was traveling from casino to casino, adding that he believes they have been living in the van for around two to three months.
“From what I’ve been told, the mother had a lot of pride,” Bettison said, adding, “She loved her kids and she wanted to keep the family together.”
On November 25, the family contacted Detroit’s homeless response team to inform them that they had been living with another family, but could not continue residing there, and needed another place to go, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said.
Duggan added there was no resolution as a result of the family’s late November conversation with the city’s homeless response team, and that an outreach worker was never sent out.
The mayor noted that outreach staff are sent in emergency situations, but that the family never called back. Duggan, however, also believes that no one from the homeless response team ever reached back out to the family to determine whether their situation had been resolved.
In the meantime, Deputy Mayor Melia Howard has been directed to conduct an investigation with Detroit’s Housing and Revitalization Department (HRD) Director Julie Schneider into how this transpired and develop a plan to make sure it never happens again, the mayor said.
Police, meanwhile, are reminding the public that warming centers are available in the city, and are directing Detroit residents to the city’s website for more information on how they can be accessed.
Additionally, City of Detroit Homelessness Solutions Director Terra Linzner said the city’s shelters have beds available for residents who need them “to try to prevent situations like this.”
Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries (DRMM), also chimed in, reminding the public that their shelters can be used by anyone in need during cold winter months.
“We’ve had quite a few cold snaps and it’s very dangerous,” DRMM director of communications Chiara Clayton said.
“You can’t sustain being outside in these types of cold temperatures,” Clayton added. “That’s why it’s so important people know they can come get a meal, they can get a place over their heads, they can get warm.”
Relief centers like these exist “all across the city,” Duda said.
“There are so many resources available and these resources will keep families together,” the police captain added. “This was unnecessary. It didn’t have to happen this way.”
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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