Sleepover turns tragic: Relatives mourn 11-year-old girls killed by carbon monoxide

[Kat]

Is it standard procedure in Florida to call in the DCF?

From link above in post number 38:

...CBS 12 has learned that DCF has been called into this investigation along with the Sheriff's Office.

 

[elle1919]

This just doesn't make any sense at all. Who in the world would leave a car running in the garage? And the dog managed to survive? I agree with the poster who asks wouldn't the dog be the first to go....because of size and what not? Something stinks to high heaven. Maybe the girls fell asleep in the car listening to the radio or something I mean even that would make more sense....but I just don't get it. Do we have any new news reports about this?

 

[elle1919]

Is it standard procedure in Florida to call in the DCF?

From link above in post number 38:

Might be jumping the gun but DCF would be called if perhaps these children were left unattended for any amount of time that night. Maybe the mom was elsewhere and something happened? My 11 year old daughter....and I do have an 11 year old daughter....might go into the garage to sit in the back of the car and listen to music if I wasn't there to explain how wrong and dangerous it is to do that. I don't know something seems wrong with this whole scenario.

 

[fran]

Oh geez, want a totally diff version?

http://www.cbs12.com/news/odorless-4718342-gas-amber.html

Now this version sounds a little more like an accident than the previous version. Finding the mother on the kitchen floor with one of the girls sounds possible. The phone may have gotten hung up when the woman collapsed.

I still don't understand the mom going to bed leaving the car on,..........much LESS with the garage door closed.

JMHO
fran

 

[impatientredhead]

Now this version sounds a little more like an accident than the previous version. Finding the mother on the kitchen floor with one of the girls sounds possible. The phone may have gotten hung up when the woman collapsed.

I still don't understand the mom going to bed leaving the car on,..........much LESS with the garage door closed.

JMHO
fran

I don't get the leaving the car on either but I guess we all have our moments of stupidity. Luckily most of those moments don't end in tragedy.

One of the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning is lack of coordination, and the another is confusion. I can easily get the hanging up on 911 in that state. I am assuming the garage is off the kitchen so as she came into the kitchen she may have heard the vehicle and turned it off thus the keys on the counter.

I still think you would have to be really intoxicated to leave a car running in the garage.

Of course I have flooded the same sink in our office staff room three times, done the major clean up each time, and don't seem to be getting any smarter!

 

[Vegas Bride]

Can someone tell me, I don't have a garage, but if you have a car running in your attached garage for any length of time, would there be a strong smell from the gas?

VB

 

[Juliana]

I have not been able to read this whole thread through in order to properly comment but am in a hurry - want to let ya'll know that my neighbor's Prius (no idea if it is similar to the subject car) has been known to turn on randomly (i..e, neighbors are inside the house and car in driveway just randomly ignites and turns on without any key, etc). They have gone to movies and come out to find their car running (keys in their pocket). Of course this never happens when they take the car in to the dealer to have it checked. If the subject car has a similar ignition, maybe something like this happened.

 

[Kat]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-boca-carbon-monoxide-p053109,0,5881120.story

Updated: 6:19 p.m.

...After a trip to Wal-Mart, Amber's mother, Loretta Wilson, left her SUV running in a closed garage.

Wilson told investigators that the SUV wouldn't turn off, so she left it running in the garage overnight.

She found the two girls dead the next morning, one in the kitchen and one in a bedroom, and was nearly overcome herself by the colorless, odorless gas.

When deputies arrived, the vehicle was not running, the keys were on the counter and the tank was half full, Barbera said.

Detectives continued to investigate the deaths Monday and planned to examine the 2006 Ford Escape...

...Wilson remained in West Boca Medical Center's Intensive Care Unit, Barbera said. Despite high levels of carbon monoxide in her body, she is expected to survive...

 

[txsvicki]

I'm not sure I believe the story, and suspect that the woman may have gone out drinking or been half drunk or something. Who would leave their car running all night long exposing it to overheating and burning up all their gas without calling the authorities or someone for helf. Not to mention practically everyone knowing the dangers of carbon monoxide. This is another reason for me to never let my grandkids spend the night with anyone.

 

[impatientredhead]

I'm not sure I believe the story, and suspect that the woman may have gone out drinking or been half drunk or something. Who would leave their car running all night long exposing it to overheating and burning up all their gas without calling the authorities or someone for helf. Not to mention practically everyone knowing the dangers of carbon monoxide. This is another reason for me to never let my grandkids spend the night with anyone.

Not to mention there are half a dozen ways to kill the engine if your ignition won't let go. If she didn't know any of them she could have googled them, called AAA, or driven it to the local gas station to get help killing it. She had to have been drunk and completely forgot to turn it off. Considering neither 11 year old noticed either I am wondering if we will find out that she left the girls at home and went out for a couple of hours.

 

[Truthful Lies]

Ok, so you take two 11 year-old girls to shop at Wal-Mart at 10 something at night? That's weird to begin with, but not criminal.

I'm sorry, but I still think the Mother had to have been inebriated/inhibited in some way. Very possible they all had dinner somewhere (as a "treat"...my Mom used to take my little girlfriends and I to dinners, but early!), Mom was stressed, had too much wine...and was exhausted.

I guess I'm alone in this theory, but unless she has an IQ of approx. 70 (okay, not funny...dark humor...can't make sense of this otherwise), I can't see how she would just go to bed! =P

MOO

 

[keeponsearching]

I can only think that she couldnt turn it off, brought the stuff in the house, and forgot it was running. Very sad.

When the car is running, does the key have to be in the car?

 

[lizzybeth]

I'm not saying that's what this particular mom did, but when my daughter was about that age I found out something disturbing. Some of her classmates/friend's moms would invite their child's friends over to spend the night. It was a cheap babysitter while mom went out. I wonder if the mom took the girls to Wal-Mart to pick up things to occupy them (movies, popcorn, etc.) and then left them there at her house alone. When she gets in she's intoxicated and just forgets to turn the car off.

JMO.

 

[Blackwatch]

I'm not saying that's what this particular mom did, but when my daughter was about that age I found out something disturbing. Some of her classmates/friend's moms would invite their child's friends over to spend the night. It was a cheap babysitter while mom went out. I wonder if the mom took the girls to Wal-Mart to pick up things to occupy them (movies, popcorn, etc.) and then left them there at her house alone. When she gets in she's intoxicated and just forgets to turn the car off.

JMO.

Extremely reasonable explanation, one that makes the most sense of any so far. I'd venture a guess, if the mother and daughter were found in the kitchen, that the daughter managed to get to her mother or vice versa and they both tried to get out, daughter not making it, then mother shutting off the car.

As for the dog, does carbon monoxide rise? If so, the dog probably had a source of cleaner air being so close to the floor.

My opinion only

 

[elle1919]

I'm not saying that's what this particular mom did, but when my daughter was about that age I found out something disturbing. Some of her classmates/friend's moms would invite their child's friends over to spend the night. It was a cheap babysitter while mom went out. I wonder if the mom took the girls to Wal-Mart to pick up things to occupy them (movies, popcorn, etc.) and then left them there at her house alone. When she gets in she's intoxicated and just forgets to turn the car off.

JMO.

I mentioned that the mom might have been away from the home and that might be the reason that DCF was called into the investigation. If you ask me that is HIGHLY suspect that Department of Children and Family Services are looking into this tragedy.

Have we received any more updates on this story, I first read that one girl died...only, now I read that perhaps both girls may have died. This is a little confusing, also any word on if the dog that was taken lived or if levels of Carbon monoxide were detected in the animal??

Going to look for updates.

 

[lizzybeth]

I went searching to see if carbon monoxide rises and this one item I found:

http://www.wapt.com/cnn-news/18639776/detail.html

Even though the dog is the smallest, because it most likely is laying on the floor, it escapes some of the gas.

I suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning as a child and was told that because I was the smallest in the car, I was the first to pass out.

 

[Marie]

Wilson, who was also exposed to the deadly gas in her home, was released from West Boca Medical Center on Monday, a day after best friends Amber Wilson, 11, and Caitlin Brondolo, 12, were found to have died in their sleep.

Wilson told investigators that she left her Ford Escape running in the closed garage because she could not shut it off late Saturday. Investigators found the SUV's engine off and the keys in the kitchen when they arrived Sunday. Barbera said an expert is being called in to determine what went wrong with the car.

Caitlin's funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Spanish River Church, 2400 Yamato Road, Boca Raton. She will be buried in the Boca Raton City Cemetery.

 

[Marie]

Amber's mom took the girls shopping, but told detectives that when she got home the engine to her SUV would not shut off.

Kaitlyn's mom Jill Brondolo told our news partners at the Sun Sentinel that she was surprised Wilson might have knowingly left her car running in the garage - and that although Wilson is a single mother, she could have asked for help.

The sheriff's office says this appears to be a tragic accident but detectives are still working the case.

Questions remain in deaths of 11-year olds

Wilson told investigators she had pulled her SUV into the garage, closed the door, but could not turn off the vehicle. Wilson said she'd had trouble with the SUV since being in an accident.

However when investigators inspected the home, they found the SUV was not running, it still had a half tank of gas, and the keys were in the kitchen.

Barbera says more questioning is planned. She says her department still does not know how the SUV was turned off.

 

[fran]

Although LE has stated, up to this point, this is a tragic accident, it appears they are looking into the matter further. As they should. I don't know if it's an accident at this point or not.

I still don't understand, IF her claim is right, the car wouldn't shut off, she didn't go to a neighbor or someone to help her. To leave the car running in a closed garage,............well, .....................is just dumb.

JMHO
fran



http://www.wptv.com/news/local/stor...with-daughters-de/h7maNj2jG0CgCGQGT25nnQ.cspx

Parents of Caitlin Brondolo lean on their faith

BOCA RATON, FL -- Christopher and Jill Brondolo emerged from the Spanish River Church on Boca Raton having done what no parents should have to do. Making funeral arrangements, for their 11-year-old daughter, Caitlin.

........................snip...................

Wilson's vehicle is now at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office impound lot.

Detectives say they'll run tests on the vehicle to try and validate Wilson's claim that the engine wouldn't stop running even after she'd turned off the ignition.

<<<<<<<<<<<<full article at link>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[SleuthyMama]

I agree, fran. I'm glad to see they are still asking questions and probing this further. I still have a weird feeling this may not have been just an accident.

I keep coming back to not grasping that a woman 45 years old would not know enough to NOT allow a car engine to run in a closed garage...and a garage that was obviously attached to her home. It just seems out of the realm of normal thinking that that would be an okay solution to her problem of a car engine that wouldn't turn off.

IF that is really what happened then I have to hope that she was impaired by alcohol/drugs because again, and I know I'm harping....I just don't get it that she would not know running a car engine in a closed garage could kill someone.