;)
Thursday
Feb052009
3-Year-Old Girl Frozen to Death
Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 2:50AM
The following is a sad, tragic story of a little 3-year-old girl named Cassandra Weronick. She was found frozen to death in the snow less than a mile from her home. It is so very hard when parents have to bury their children but what makes this so much more poignant is that it was so unexpected. This little girl wandered away from home in the middle of the night with only a shirt and diaper on. She most certainly died a slow, painful, bone-chilling death in the snow with the temperature outside in the single digits. Her parents are devastated.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlzbieSoO04]
It was a neighbor, a newspaper carrier, that found little Cassandra in the snow less than a mile from her home at 33 Aldrich Road, Mountaindale in upstate New York. At first she thought it was a doll lying in the snow but when she got out of her car to investigate, she saw it was a little child.
Around the same time Cassandra’s father, Douglas Weronick, called 911 at 7:03 am to report his daughter missing. He handed the phone over to his wife, Lisa, so that he could begin searching the neighborhood. Only three minutes later—while Lisa Weronick was still on the phone with dispatchers — the neighbor called 911 to report she’d found a little girl’s body.
While out searching for his missing daughter, Douglas Weronick heard the call for a child with cardiac arrest broadcast over another neighbor’s police scanner. He went up the road to the address - to his neighbor Diana Dimilia's house - and discovered his daughter’s body in the snow just off the road. She was pronounced dead at the scene. She was the youngest of three children.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MovSw5VwAE0]
The police believe that it was around 3 am that Cassandra wandered off in the cold. The family dog started barking about that time. Cassandra's mom, Lisa, was woken up by the noise. She discovered that the door was left slightly open and - believing that the dog had opened the door - shut it and bolted it and then went back to sleep.
Police say Cassandra had wandered away from home before, but was quickly found her at a neighbor's house. The Weronick's had even made efforts to prevent her from sneaking off again.
At the Spring Glen Grocery, the owner, Ramila Patel, told CBS 2 the parents often stopped in with Cassandra and their two older boys.
The investigation continues, but police say there are no signs of foul play, just a tragic set of circumstances.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlzbieSoO04]
"There's not too much you can say about it other than its a sad, sad event," said State Police Capt. Wayne Olson.
It was a neighbor, a newspaper carrier, that found little Cassandra in the snow less than a mile from her home at 33 Aldrich Road, Mountaindale in upstate New York. At first she thought it was a doll lying in the snow but when she got out of her car to investigate, she saw it was a little child.
Around the same time Cassandra’s father, Douglas Weronick, called 911 at 7:03 am to report his daughter missing. He handed the phone over to his wife, Lisa, so that he could begin searching the neighborhood. Only three minutes later—while Lisa Weronick was still on the phone with dispatchers — the neighbor called 911 to report she’d found a little girl’s body.
While out searching for his missing daughter, Douglas Weronick heard the call for a child with cardiac arrest broadcast over another neighbor’s police scanner. He went up the road to the address - to his neighbor Diana Dimilia's house - and discovered his daughter’s body in the snow just off the road. She was pronounced dead at the scene. She was the youngest of three children.
"When I left this morning it was about 9 degrees, so it was down in the single digits, I mean bitter, bitter cold last night and you know it's amazing that she could have even gotten this far," said neighbor Diana Dimilia.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MovSw5VwAE0]
The police believe that it was around 3 am that Cassandra wandered off in the cold. The family dog started barking about that time. Cassandra's mom, Lisa, was woken up by the noise. She discovered that the door was left slightly open and - believing that the dog had opened the door - shut it and bolted it and then went back to sleep.
Police say Cassandra had wandered away from home before, but was quickly found her at a neighbor's house. The Weronick's had even made efforts to prevent her from sneaking off again.
"The parents had a couple locks on the door, evidently she was able to bypass the latch and lock to get out of the house so I think her own ingenuity was probably part of the problem," said Olson.
At the Spring Glen Grocery, the owner, Ramila Patel, told CBS 2 the parents often stopped in with Cassandra and their two older boys.
"I know the family, husband and wife, [they're] wonderful. This is so sad, oh my gosh," said Patel.
The investigation continues, but police say there are no signs of foul play, just a tragic set of circumstances.
