A Nebraska woman is facing child abuse charges after allegedly leaving her 3-month-old baby in a hot car while she was horseback riding at a county fair.
According to the Merrick County Sheriff's Office, Kara Duggan, 40, was arrested on Aug. 24 at the Merrick County Fairgrounds after deputies reported a young child was left alone in a pickup truck with the engine off and the windows half-rolled. It said in a statement.
According to the sheriff's office, Dugan was found riding a horse inside the building as temperatures outside were around 90 degrees.
Meanwhile, Edgar Estrada, who was taking part in the roping competition at the fair, heard the baby's cries and sprang into action. Fox Nebraska reported..
According to the media report, when the good Samaritan noticed the baby was nowhere to be found in the stands or amongst the crowd, he mounted his horse like a knight in shining armor and galloped through the parking lot looking for the baby.
“As I was warming up again on my horse and getting ready, I heard a baby crying,” Estrada said. “I quickly got on my horse and started running around the parking area, weaving between the horses, looking for the crying baby.”
An announcement was made over a loudspeaker and people attending the roping event helped search for the source of the crying, Fox News reported. In a dramatic recovery, Edgar found the baby inside the car after about 10 minutes of searching, and was able to pry open the window and pull open the door.
When police arrived on scene at 1:30 p.m., they found the toddler had been left in the pickup truck with the engine turned off and the window “had been half open for a significant amount of time,” he added.
Police transported the baby to a local hospital, where the baby was found to have no injuries.
Officials said outside temperatures recorded between 89 and 90 degrees.
The child has been placed into the custody of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, according to the sheriff's office.
There have been many other similar cases where babies left in hot cars tragically do not escape alive.
Last week in Texas, a 9-month-old baby died after being left in a car seat by his grandmother for eight hours, the day after a 22-month-old baby died in a hot car in another part of the state.
at least 25 more This year alone, children have died in cars. According to Child and Vehicle Safety.
