Girl, 2, Is Locked in Mother’s Car, but There’s No Tragedy This Time

An Orange County child was trapped in a car Monday, but this story--unlike Sunday’s, in which infant twins died--had a happy ending.

Still, the incident frightened the mother, Shelly Schnell of Santa Ana. Her 2-year-old daughter, Jessica, spent more than an hour inside their locked car while efforts were made to open the vehicle, the mother said.

Schnell said authorities told her that they didn’t immediately force the locks open because the child was never in danger. Schnell said the car had been left running with the air conditioner on.

The incident began about noon Monday, when Schnell and her daughter pulled out of their driveway on Fairview Avenue. Schnell realized she had forgotten something inside the house, stepped out of the car and locked it. It was only then that she remembered that she had left the keys inside.

Concerned about the heat inside and mindful of Sunday’s tragedy, she dialed 911. But she said it took repeated calls to the emergency number before firefighters arrived to unlock the car and free Jessica.

“It was an ordeal just the same,” Schnell said. “(Jessica) was very good about it. She stayed really calm. But it was scary for a while, especially when (firefighters) wouldn’t come,” the mother said.

However, Santa Ana Fire Capt. Richard Keller said that his unit was called at 1:12 p.m. and that firefighters were at the scene in four minutes.

“All I can say is that our log shows when the call came in to us and how long it took us to respond,” Keller said.

While waiting for firefighters to arrive, the mother tried to get the child to unlock the car. “But she knows not to raise the (inside door) locks and she wouldn’t do it,” Schnell said.