Haunting new details emerge after twin toddlers are found dead in the back of family’s car
Twin toddlers were found dead in the backseat of their family’s hot car after being ‘acc’ed‘left identically in the vehicle for an extended period of time.’
Ariel and Avery, two years old, were found around 3 p.m. Thursday in Norman, Oklahoma.
An unknown family member had driven into the white car, but when he turned around he saw the twins lying dead in the backseat.
Officers pronounced the children dead at the scene after they were called for a welfare check. Police are still investigating how and why they were left in the burning car.
That day, the temperature in the area was around 90F outside. According to the National Weather Service, a vehicle can reach 120F in just 30 minutes when it is 88F outside.
Twin toddlers, Ariel and Avery, were found dead in a hot car in Norman, Oklahoma around 3 p.m. Thursday
The 2-year-olds were found after Norman police responded to a request for a welfare check from a driver who saw the car stopped in the 1000 block of W Brooks Street. (Pictured: Ariel and Avery with their father Marshall Suter)
“We should have determined that there was probable cause that pointed to willful negligence that directly linked them to the deaths of those children, and right now the investigation just shows us that this is much more of an accident,” said Sarah Schettler of the Normal Police Department. KOCO5.
Police are not currently seeking charges and say the family is cooperating with the investigation.
Officials said the family member had been driving away when they suddenly saw Ariel and Avery lying dead in the backseat of the car.
Police suspect that the children had been in the car all day, but it is still unclear how the events occurred.
On Sunday morning, Marshall Suter, the children’s father, posted a message on Facebook: “I can’t believe this,” as family and friends expressed their support.
Katherine Dawson, Ariel and Avery’s mother, also took to social media on Saturday to report their tragic deaths.
“I know there are a lot of people who want to reach out to us right now and be there for us. Both Marshall and I are having a harder time than we can imagine.
We ask that you respect that we need some space at this time as we process and grieve our loss.
“If you need us, we have plenty of family members on both sides who can contact us,” Katherine said.
Suter and Dawson, who have four children together, including Ariel and Avery, often post loving photos of their kids on social media — in honor of birthdays and holidays.
Officers soon found the vehicle (pictured) and pronounced the girls dead at the scene. Police are still investigating why they were left in the burning car.
Andrew Kabara, a local resident, said cars often park on the street because many parents drop off their children at McKinley Elementary School or the University of Oklahoma, a few blocks from where the toddlers were found.
“We are paying attention to most of them,” Kabara said The Oklahoman.
“This is a close-knit neighborhood and we like to know who comes through here, but we’ve never thought of anything like this before,” he added.
The girls were described as ‘cute little babies’
The day the girls were discovered, Kabara said he became concerned when he saw several cars pulled over across the street.
‘We sympathize with the deceased children, their parents and the rest of their families.
‘We can’t imagine it. After we heard [Friday] In the morning our hearts broke when we realized it was just two little kids living across the street.
“It broke our hearts. We can’t believe something like this happened so close to home. It’s a shame,” Kabara said, adding that their deaths were “a tragic mistake.”
Flowers have been laid on the lawn near the spot where Ariel and Avery were found.
A GoFundMe Page was created by Kourtnee Usey, the cousin of Marshall Suter, the girls’ father.
“All funds raised will be used to give these precious little babies the burial they deserve and to help ease the burden on this father’s shoulders after such a tragic and HEARTBREAKING loss,” Kourtnee wrote.
“No one knows how painful it is to lose a child until you experience it yourself.”
By Sunday evening, the page had already raised more than $3,700.
The twins are seen with their mother Katherine Dawson (right) and their other siblings in December 2023
Police are not recommending any charges at this time and said the family is cooperating with the investigation.
DailyMail.com reached out to Norman police. The horrific incident marks the first heat-related infant death in the state this year.
On August 13, a three-year-old boy was found dead in a burning SUV after his father left him to go shopping.
The child died in an SUV in the parking lot of a grocery store in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, when his father pulled over after work.
The Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office is treating the death as a heat-related incident.
In Vicksburg, a town in Kalamazoo County where the death occurred, temperatures that day rose above 86 degrees Fahrenheit.