With all the money the US has been caught throwing around to Ukraine, Israel, and other bullshit, there is absolutely no excuse for this shit to happen to any American child. This is shameful.
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2 children believed to have frozen to death in van parked in casino parking garage: Police
Two children who were living with their family out of a van are believed to have died from hypothermia after spending the night in a Detroit casino parking garage amid frigid temperatures, police said.
The children, ages 9 and 2, were found frozen to death on midday Monday in the Hollywood Casino Hotel at Greektown parking garage, police said.
"It's a terrible day in Detroit as we deal with the tragic loss of two young people, and it's gotta make us rethink everything that we're doing," Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said during a press briefing Tuesday.
The family is believed to have been living out of their vehicle for two to three months and parking at various casinos in Detroit, according to interim Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison.
The family had parked on the ninth floor of the Hollywood Casino parking garage around 1 a.m. on Monday, police said. At some point during the night, the vehicle stopped running, possibly due to a mechanical failure or after running out of gas, and the mother had called a friend for help, according to Bettison.
The mother first noticed the older child was not breathing and called 911 around 12:12 p.m. Monday, Bettison said. The friend transported the boy to a nearby children's hospital, he said.
While checking on the other four children who were in the vehicle, they noticed the 2-year-old was not breathing and the children's grandmother called 911, Bettison said. The family also called the friend, who returned from the hospital to bring the girl there too, Bettison said.
Both children were pronounced dead at the hospital, Bettison said. The medical examiner will determine the official cause of death, though police preliminarily believe they died from hypothermia, he said. The temperature in the garage was under 32 degrees, he said.
The hospital called police around 12:47 p.m. Monday to report the deaths of the children, Bettison said.
The case remains under investigation and will be presented to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, Bettison said.
There were two adults and five children total between the ages of 2 and 13 in the vehicle, police said.
The other three children were examined at the hospital and are now with family members, police said.
Duggan said they have learned the family had reached out to a homeless response team in late November 2024 and reported they were no longer able to stay with the family they had been living with and needed a place to go.
He said no resolution was reached during that conversation and that "for whatever reason" it was not deemed an emergency, which would have prompted an outreach person to visit the family.
The mayor has called for a review of the family's case and of the city's homelessness services, including the call center and public information policy. He said he also wants to instate a policy where outreach workers automatically do a site visit for cases involving minors.
Duggan said the city increased the number of shelters and drop-in beds ahead of the winter but wants to ensure people know what services are available.
"The heartbreaking part of this is that there were family shelter beds available just a few miles away from where the family pulled in to that Greektown structure, but brings home the point that having services available doesn't mean very much if the residents that need them don't know how to access them," he said.
2 children believed to have frozen to death in van parked in casino parking garage: Police
The children, ages 9 and 2, were found frozen to death on midday Monday in the Hollywood Casino Hotel at Greektown parking garage, police said.
