Devastating words dad screamed after learning his baby died after being left in hot car all day
A one-year-old died after her father forgot she was in his car for an entire day amid scorching temperatures. Credit: imageBROKER/Ilya Andriyanov / Getty
Olivia Ancelet, a one-year-old girl from Australia, was locked in the back of the vehicle as the temperature soared to 86°F.
Her father, Etienne Ancelet, arrived at a childcare center on Marana Rd in Earlwood around 5:30PM on Tuesday (February 4) to pick up his little girl, only to be told she had never been dropped off that morning, News.com.au reported.
It was at that moment he made the horrifying discovery that she was in fact still strapped in the car seat.
Emergency services raced to the scene following reports of a baby found unresponsive in a vehicle. Tragically, Olivia was pronounced dead.
In a joint statement to the publication, Ancelet and Olivia’s mother, Kim Visconti, described their daughter as the “light of our lives” and a “sweet and beautiful baby”.
“We are humbled and grateful for the time we had her. We are devastated by what has unfolded,” they said. “We do not wish this on any parent. We will always cherish our time with our beautiful girl. She was loved by all that knew her… It is an unimaginable time of sorrow for us.”
Roy Gomes, a neighbor who rushed to help, recalled hearing Ancelet’s agonizing screams before realizing what had happened.
“My neighbor came across and he said, ‘Can you hear that screaming?’ so I turned the lawnmower off,” Gomes told Newswire. “When I got there, I saw [Ancelet] with the baby in [his] arms, and he was just panicking.
“We didn’t know what to do. I said, ‘Let’s try and give her CPR, do our best,’” he said, sharing the devastating words the father screamed as the reality sank in: “[Ancelet] was screaming, poor guy, he kept screaming, ‘I’ve killed my daughter.'”
Neighbors did everything they could, pouring water on Olivia to cool her down, but it was too late.
“She was just floppy,” Gomes said. “I didn’t sleep much last night, just because I could see the little baby’s face all night, but it’s just something you do.”
New South Wales Police Superintendent Christine McDonald described Olivia’s death as “an absolute tragedy” and “a most traumatic event” when speaking to the media at a press conference.
She also emphasized the dangers of leaving a child in a vehicle, even for a short time. “Leaving a child in a vehicle at any time can be dangerous. Leaving a child inside a vehicle for an extended period of time can be deadly,” McDonald stated.
McDonald disclosed that all lines of inquiry were being investigated by detectives, and added that it was still not known when the baby was left in the car.
“The timeline of events – we need to seek that information from people that we’re currently speaking to or waiting to speak to,” she concluded.
According to Herald Sun, a male occupant of the vehicle, believed to be a relative of the child, is assisting police with their investigation.
