Lost or forgotten something?

We've all done it at one time or other. Keys, wallet, handbag, mail and countless of other things. Misplacing things is just a fact of life. But this?

How can you forget a child in a car? And for 17 hours? Here is what a family spokesman had to say of the matter after fellow members of the Mormon Church arrived for a show of support for the family and to hold a vigil for their loss (no pun intended):

Forgot he was in the car for a few minutes after getting home late after a family outing. Maybe. After all, with all those children (8 children) running around, it might just be possible. But they did not get home that late. After all, the child was found at 8:30 am the following day. And he had been left there for 17 hours. 17 hours! No one in said large family did not notice that he was not there at dinner time? No one noticed he was not in his bed at night? No one in that large family noticed that he was not there at all? The parents didn't notice that he, their youngest child, was in fact missing during that time? It would seem they did not notice. And unless they put their children to bed for the night from the middle of the afternoon, that excuse just does not wash.

Maybe someone should remind Mr Gonzalez that leaving a child in a car for 17 hours is not a "slight oversight".

 

As if this could not get any worse, it just did. It appears the 4 year old boy was mentally disabled. Here is what the father had to say, when interviewed about what he deems to be "a tragic mistake":

Nice. Talk about passing the buck.

It's akin to saying "it wasn't my fault.. his brother should have noticed and come and told us he wasn't there"...

What? These people don't check to see if their 4 year old mentally disabled child wants to eat or not? Is there no interaction between the parents and the younger children at all? Are the older children simply babysitters who are meant to come to their parents and report on any peculiarities and on the day's events for the younger siblings?

And they could get away with it.

I can see why the father said the words "tragic mistake".

 

You're telling me that come bedtime, your parents wouldn't notice that you weren't there?

I agree, it could look that way. But that doesn't resonate well either with me. At some point, someone in that household would have realised he was not there. How could they not? Even if it had been by dinner time, the child was most probably dead by then. They arrived home at around 3pm or so if the numbers provided in the media are correct. And until 8:30am on the following day, when his older sibling found him dead in the car, no one even noticed? Does no one in that household speak to each other? The parents don't say goodnight to their kids? I mean, is that left up to the older sibling as well? Don't these parents interact at all with their children? I would assume at 4 years of age, he would still probably be tucked in at night or at the very least, be told 'goodnight' before going to bed. Someone tells him to brush his teeth? Bath time? Anything at all that is considered normal for dinner or bedtime routines?

Their excuses just do not make sense and it does not add up. And frankly, to me it does look like it was something that is deeply suspicious.

The question still keeps begging to be answered. How could no one in that household have noticed that a 4 year old child was not there? How could it have taken 17 hours before the noticed? This isn't a case whereby the child wandered off or was taken during the night. They admitted to having forgotten him in the car. To forget him for 5 minutes is a mistake. To forget him for 17 hours and not realise in all that time that he was not in the house?.. I don't think there is a word to describe that aside from criminal.

 

I lost my eldest in the supermarket for about 30 seconds when he bolted from me, but that would be about it. I found him 2 aisles down trying to get away from the kindly couple that grabbed him for me after they heard me yelling at him to stop.

Little devil runs fast.:bawl:

 

I feel sorry for the child. His death would have been absolutely horrible in that car.

As for a mistake? Even with 7 screaming kids, 17 hours? Lets see, they came home, 7 screaming kids... a few minutes? Yeah ok. Say 20 minutes (child probably very sick at this point), possibly. Dinner time rolls around. They don't notice. Bedtime.. still don't notice. By that point (bedtime), they should have noticed the child was not there. Mistake? I don't buy it.

We're not talking an hour here, or even two. We are basically looking at from around 3:30pm to 8:30am the next day.

And just the words he used when interviewed by the radio station:

The station asked him how his family lost track of a mentally disabled 4-year-old.

“No one ever said anybody was missing or anything. We usually keep Sundays a quiet day, and one got away from us,” Rimer said.

He was then asked how the boy was overlooked at dinner time.

“They usually go in and grab for themselves, and nobody ever mentioned Jason not coming to the table,” Rimer said.

In the family of eight, Rimer said the older brother usually watches out for the younger ones.

“He generally will tell us anything that's wrong. I trusted that he saw all them. And it never crossed my mind we had one dying in the car,” Rimer said.
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Nobody every said he was missing? No one mentioned he hadn't eaten? He had to be told the child was not there? They don't check to see if their children eat? Especially a 4 year old? He couldn't open his own eyes and notice that his youngest child was not in the house, not during the whole afternoon, dinner time, bedtime and most probably early the next morning? Most kids don't sleep in. They are usually up by the crack of dawn.

And then passing the blame onto his eldest son? That he is usually the one who watches the younger children and will "generally" tell them if something is wrong? So he trusted that he saw the younger child? Pardon the French, but what the fuck? And the way he says, "it never crossed my mind we had one dying in the car".. "One"? "One"? We aren't talking about leaving one head of lettuce in the car by mistake. We're talking about his child and that's his reaction? Mistake my arse.

That is his reaction to this? 'No one told me that he wasn't there.. no one told me he hadn't come to eat.. eldest son didn't come and tell me he wasn't there so I assumed he was there.. didn't think one was carking it in the car'.. That's basically what he's saying. He's passing the blame onto someone else, primarily his eldest child. That says it all really, doesn't it? What kind of asshat tries to pass the blame onto his other child when he, being the adult, should have opened his eyes and noticed his own child, his youngest child, was not in the house?