A missing 2-year-old girl was found in a dryer in Georgia, officials confirmed.
The cause of death for the toddler, who was not named, was declared as hypothermia, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The Brantley County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with First Coast News that the toddler died in a dryer on June 2 at a trailer park in Waycross.
A source told the outlet that the girl climbed into the bottom part of the dryer while her mother was sleeping. She was discovered Sunday morning trapped inside that part and unresponsive.
Sources confirmed with NBC 4 that the toddler was found inside the dryer. The girl’s mother said she climbed inside while she was asleep.
No one has been arrested as of yet.
The Brantley County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with First Coast News that the child died after being in a dryer and that they have turned the case over to the GBI. https://t.co/1c9BDJbxrY
— Florida Times-Union (@jaxdotcom) June 4, 2019
Neighbor David Williams said that what happened was a tragedy.
“It was just crazy,” Williams told News4Jax. “It’s just an awful tragedy.”
He said that the mother of the girl was a good mother and that the toddler was a good girl.
“She’s a good girl. She’s a good mom, takes care of her kid, goes to work. She does the right thing. For something like this to happen in our neighborhood is just awful,” he added.
HEARTBREAKING | According to the GBI, the medical examiner said the toddler died of hyperthermia. A close family friend told News4Jax that the toddler was found in a dryer. https://t.co/IuhSAptvQw
— News4JAX (@wjxt4) June 5, 2019
Mother Issues Warning
In 2017, a British mother warned other parents after her young daughter was nearly killed inside a dryer.
Shannon, 24, said that her 23-month-old daughter Iiylah opened the dryer door and her finger got stuck in a blanket.
The mother heard her daughter screaming and rushed to the room and turned the dryer off just as Iiylah was being sucked inside.
“Her head was slowly being pulled in, and I was worried that something awful might happen, because the momentum was pulling her in,” she told SWNS. “I grabbed her but it was still pulling at her so I flicked the power switch.”
“She was screaming but it could have been awful if her head went into the fast spinning drum—she could have been very seriously injured or even worse,” she added. “It’s been horrible. It’s the most horrific thing that I have ever seen in my life.”
Tot Almost Killed When She Is Dragged Into Speeding Faulty Tumble Dryer – https://t.co/TvKpdQmj5F pic.twitter.com/bDv1Xa7L1x
— SWNS.com (@SWNS) October 23, 2017
The girl was rushed to the hospital and survived.
But the mother said other parents should be careful about their children being around dryers and other large appliances.
According to a report published in 2011, there is ample time during a drying cycle for a child who gets stuck inside the machine to get injured.
“A forensic examination of the dryer revealed that it was possible for the child to become trapped in the dryer by his own action and that the dryer could operate for sufficient time to allow for the causation of the injuries to the child,” the researchers wrote.
