Spokane woman finds baby left in freezing car

Picture this: a baby freezing, bawling, and alone in the back seat of a car.

That's what one Spokane woman stumbled upon in a South Hill parking lot.

"Complete shock," Windy Delandro said.

A frightening sight, Delandro says she saw what looked like a six-month-old sitting in her car seat, car turned off, tears streaming down the little girls cheeks.

"I looked around to see if I could find anybody, see something, I told my mom that she needed to go inside and call 911," Delandro said.

She says she tried talking to the little girl and calming her down.

She yelled for help, then ran inside the Rite-Aid and started asking who's child it was.

"The mother was actually the second or third customer in line and heard everybody talking about her," Delandro said.

That's when, she says, the mother of the child started arguing with her saying that she should mind her own business.

Windy, a mom herself, couldn't believe what she saw and heard.

"I told her it's like five degrees outside, we don't leave infants in the car, unattended, especially in this kind of weather," she said.

Delandro has a message for parents.

"It seems like it would just run in there quicker, you know I've had those thoughts myself years ago, but it's dangerous and you just don't do it," she said.

Police tell us that there is no law in Washington that says you can't leave a child in a car that is turned off, unless it's parked at a bar or tavern, then it is illegal.

It is, however, illegal if the car is on.

Police say they will investigate each call case-by-case basis if the weather is really hot, or really cold.

Police can press charges for child endangerment or neglect or harm if the child is in danger due to temperature. 

(story: Adam Mayer, KHQ Local News Reporter; photo: KHQ.com)


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