Jan 3, 2008 7:02 pm US/Central
2-Year-Old Dies After Wandering Out In Cold
NEW ULM, Minn. (WCCO) ―
A 2-year-old New Ulm, Minn. boy died after wandering outside his home on a frigid night while his mother slept.
Dara Lenz found the lifeless body of her son, Lucas Boldt, Wednesday morning in a snowbank about 10 to 20 feet from her home.
"He was so sweet, loving. He said hi to everybody no matter who it was," said Lenz.
"He's got a nickname the little politician because he waves at everybody and says hi," said Lucas Boldt's grandmother Becky Tykwinski.
Police responded to a call to the home in the 1100 block of North Jefferson Street around 7:45 a.m. Wednesday and found Lucas unconscious inside the house. They performed CPR on the child, who was later pronounced dead at the New Ulm Medical Center.
According to the National Weather Service, the temperature in New Ulm was minus-9 around 7 a.m.
Lenz, 26, said she put Lucas to bed about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. That was later than usual because he was still energized by the holidays, she said. They went to bed together, but when Lenz woke up, Lucas was no longer next to her. She hoped to find him in his room, but he wasn't there.
She raced outside and found him in the snow.
"I don't know how it happened," she said. "He's never wandered away before."
Lenz pleaded with other parents to put childproof locks on their doors. "You have to put everything you can on the doors if you live in Minnesota," she said. She declined to say whether her doors had been locked.
Police didn't know how long Lucas had been exposed to the freezing temperatures, and Cmdr. Myron Weiland said police didn't suspect foul play.
On Thursday, Weiland declined to disclose how the child got out of the house, saying the matter was still under investigation.
Lenz wants what happened to her son to be a warning to other parents. She urges them to install child proof locks in hopes that her child's death will help save others.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
