Emily Brown
Police in Detroit have shared details of a tragic incident in which two young children died after spending the night in a van amid freezing temperatures.
Interim Detroit Police Chief Todd A. Bettison shared details of the situation in a press conference on Tuesday (February 11), one day after the children's mother realized the two-year-old girl and the nine-year-old boy had stopped breathing while sleeping in the van in a parking garage.
Bettison said the mother had already called a close relative for help when the van ran out of gas, after which she realized her son, who was one of five children in the van, wasn't breathing.
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The mom then called 911, and the friend used their own car to take the nine-year-old to the Children's Hospital of Michigan.
According to Bettison, the mom then proceeded to check on the remaining four children who were in the van, at which time she realized the two-year-old also wasn't breathing.
The 'entire family' then got into the car and went to the hospital, where the two- and nine-year-old children were 'pronounced deceased'.
Detroit Police Capt. Nathan Duda told NBC News that early indications suggested the children 'froze to death'.
Temperatures had fallen below 32 degrees Fahrenheit while the kids were in the van, police said, indicating the deaths had been the result of 'exposure to hypothermia'.
The cause of deaths will ultimately be confirmed by the medical examiner.
The other three children, aged four, eight and 13, were determined to be in a stable condition after they were treated in the hospital. They are now with other family members.
Meanwhile, the mom was detained and provided a statement before being released.
Authorities have confirmed that officers will conduct an investigation into the deaths to determine if charges are necessary.
Duda told NBC: "It has to be [investigated]. I don’t think anyone really wants to think about that at the moment with the two children passed, but the reality is that the circumstances do have to be examined.
"We have to figure out how to go forward.”
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan revealed during the press conference that the family involved had previously reached out to the city's 'homeless response team' on multiple occasions, most recently on November 25.
While there was 'no resolution reached' in that conversation, Duggan said the family 'never called back again', but neither had anyone 'proactively' reached out to the family.
Noting 'there were family shelter beds available just a few miles away', he added: “[It] brings home the point that having services available doesn’t mean very much if the residents who need them don’t know how to access them.
"We have to make sure that we do everything possible to make sure this doesn’t happen again."