Kenneth Glad
Investigators say the child had been inside the vehicle for hours before officers traced her location. The discovery has prompted a broader review as authorities work to determine how the situation unfolded.
Police in a Detroit suburb have arrested a man after a 13-month-old girl was discovered inside a locked vehicle at a tow yard, authorities said.
The child, reported missing a day earlier, was found alive in the back seat of an SUV that had been impounded the previous afternoon.
Arrest and impound details
Harper Woods Police Chief Jason Hammerle said Monday that a male suspect is in custody as detectives review possible criminal charges. “The Harper Woods Police Department currently has a male in custody in connection with this incident,” Hammerle said. He added that investigators are still determining what charges, if any, will be sought.
According to CBS News and The Detroit News, the SUV had been towed Friday from the 20600 block of Damman Street in Harper Woods, a community northeast of downtown Detroit.
Police said it was removed because it was parked improperly and blocking a driveway. The vehicle was locked when taken, and officers indicated it could not be fully inventoried at the scene.
Under standard impound procedures, vehicles are typically inspected and logged to document their contents and protect both owners and towing agencies. Those checks, however, can be limited if a vehicle is locked and access is restricted. Authorities have not said whether towing protocols will be formally reviewed.
Search and discovery
The timeline unfolded quickly. On Saturday around 1 p.m., Detroit police began investigating a report of a missing 1-year-old. During that inquiry, detectives learned that a vehicle registered to the child’s father had been impounded the day before.
Officers from Detroit and Harper Woods went to the Eastpointe tow yard, an industrial lot lined with chain-link fencing and rows of stored vehicles. Inside the SUV, they found the toddler crying in the rear seat.
She had been there overnight, as temperatures dipped from daytime highs in the mid-50s Fahrenheit (around 12–13°C) Friday to the high 40s Fahrenheit (about 8–9°C) after dark, according to CBS News.
Hammerle said officers acted on the suspicion that the missing child could still be inside the impounded SUV and moved immediately to check the lot. The girl was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation and was listed in stable condition, expected to recover.
Ongoing investigation
Child Protective Services has opened a case. Multi-agency coordination proved critical, as the missing persons report originated in Detroit while the tow and storage occurred in neighboring jurisdictions. Such cross-department cooperation is routine in the region but can be decisive when time is limited.
Residents voiced shock. “It’s a child. It’s a 1-year-old, you know, you don’t just forget that in the car. That’s serious. It seems intentional,” Harper Woods resident Jalen Tarver said to CBS News.
Investigators continue to examine how the child remained inside the locked vehicle after it was impounded.
Sources: CBS Detroit, The Detroit News
