Toddler Found Dead In SUV

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Rancho Cordova police found a toddler dead in a SUV on Wednesday afternoon, near a popular Sacramento County park.

The child was found unresponsive in the backseat and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Officers then detained a man and woman who were found outside of the SUV for questioning. Police said that the woman is the toddler’s mother.

Officers discovered a white Toyota RAV4 parked on the wrong side of the road along Rod Beaudry Drive near River Bend Park. When polivr pulled up next to the SUV, they saw the man and the woman nearby.

A records check revealed that the man had an outstanding warrant out of Arkansas, police said.

Both the man and woman carried Arkansas identification, though it’s unclear why they were in Rancho Cordova.

Police searched the SUV and found the toddler under a pile of blankets.

“Officers locked down the scene and treated it like a crime scene,” Sacramento County sheriff’s Sgt. Tony Turnbull said. “There were no obvious signs of trauma on the child that officers could see.”

Police said the toddler’s cause of death is unknown at this stage and will be determined by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office.

“These child cases aren’t as cut and dry as other death investigation cases,” Turnbull said. “Usually, it takes an autopsy, cause, and manner of death to be determined by the coroner along with the investigation and working with the district attorney before decisions can made whether there are criminal charges to be found.”