Wandering child nearly freezes

[Mark]

I heard this story on the radio this morning, then searched the net and found it in print. Amazing how this could happen:

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5036862

Wandering child nearly freezes
by The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 01/18/2007 07:05:00 AM MST

A 3-year-old girl was hospitalized Wednesday after wandering away from her home in Steamboat Springs without pants and shoes and spending about 45 minutes in below-zero degree temperatures, authorities said.

A passing motorist found the girl semiconscious in a snowbank on the side of a county road around 9 a.m., Routt County sheriff's Sgt. Miles DeYoung said. The girl, who was wearing only a long-sleeve shirt, suffered frostbite on her hands and feet.

The motorist immediately took the girl to a local hospital, and she was then airlifted to Denver Children's Hospital where her condition was not immediately known. The girl's name was not released.

DeYoung said the child wandered about 1/2 mile away from her home.

The child's mother was sick and resting and did not immediately notice the child was missing.

Child welfare officials investigated and both parents have been cleared, DeYoung said. No charges were pending, he said.

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=63313

Toddler wanders away from home in freezing weather
written by: Jeffrey Wolf , Web Producer

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – A 3-year-old child was hospitalized Wednesday after she apparently wandered away from her home in sub-zero temperatures.

The little girl was found just before 9 a.m. on the side of Routt County Road 52 E., near Fly Gulch.

The girl was found by a passing driver.

The girl was only wearing a long sleeve shirt, but no pants and no shoes and the authorities believe the temperature was about 22 below zero.

She was taken to a local hospital and then airlifted to the Children’s Hospital in Denver.

The Routt County Sheriff's Office says she was suffering from hypothermia and frostbite when she was found.

The child’s condition and name were not immediately released.

Authorities say they traced the girl’s footprints and believe she walked about a half-mile before she was found.

Her mother was apparently sick and resting and did not immediately notice she was gone, according to the Routt County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities say they believe the girl may have been trying to walk to her grandparents’ house, which is about a mile away from her home.

She often went to their house via snowmobile, which only takes a few minutes, and deputies say she had been talking about going to see them.

 

[Alana]

Amazing how this could happen:

Actually it's easy: when others are resting or asleep child gets bored and decides to take a walk around or go visit people who might be more entertaining. I used to do it all the time when i was a kid. I would get so bored during summer siesta time because i could not sleep and did wander around. Lucky for me, i was living in a village and everyone knew who i was and whenever they found me, i was returned to where i "belonged".

What is really alarming in this story is the fact that the girl was wearing only a long sleeve shirt. Why in winter, even if inside the house, would a child be dressed like this? In freezing weather?