16yo crushed by third row seat in Honda van and police can't find him as he calls 911 using Siri

Poor kid, poor family. Losing your child has to be an unimaginable blow. Knowing he was scared, in pain and alone makes it all the more horrible. God bless this family.
 
I started reading an article yesterday and had to stop because it’s so horrible. They should have been able to find him in time.
 
Horrible. My kids and their friends have leaned over the third row and climbed back and forth countless times in our Odyssey’s.
 


I started reading an article yesterday and had to stop because it’s so horrible. They should have been able to find him in time.

That's the real issue here. When I read that this poor boy was pleading for help and the police only searched, from an article I saw, two of the SEVEN parking lots and then just gave up, I just started shaking. I cannot even begin to fathom the suffering he endured or the pain his family is now facing. Knowing that something could have been done, but wasn't? I'm sick over it and I'm just a stranger miles and miles away.

ETA: An updated article I just read says that in his second call he said that he was in a "gold Honda Odyssey van," but the operator never responds. They don't know yet if the operator heard him or not, but that info was never passed along to police.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/12/us/ohio-teen-pinned-minivan-trnd/index.html
 
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That's the real issue here. When I read that this poor boy was pleading for help and the police only searched, from an article I saw, two of the SEVEN parking lots and then just gave up, I just started shaking. I cannot even begin to fathom the suffering he endured or the pain his family is now facing. Knowing that something could have been done, but wasn't? I'm sick over it and I'm just a stranger miles and miles away.

The CNN article that I have linked below is even more alarming. The article makes it sound as if the Cincinnati police did not find the van when searching, but that a Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputy looked in a van and didn't see anyone in it (The deputy searched in at least two parking lots near the school. "I looked in a van and I didn't see anybody in it," the deputy told dispatchers.). Then in a press conference on Thursday, Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac was asked if the deputy had seen the right van, "we believe that the deputy saw the van a little bit later." So I wonder what that 'a bit later' timeline actually is, especially if the reports are true that the van's doors were unlocked. This story is tough to read that's for sure, I cannot imagine what the family is going through.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/12/us/ohio-teen-pinned-minivan-trnd/index.html
 
I'm not understanding how a back seat can flip over and trap someone like that, compressing his chest.

I can't speak for those particular seats in that car, but I had an incident recently in my car where I was reaching across the seats (3 rows also) and my shirt or something must have caught on the lever or something, because all the sudden the seat popped down trapping my hand between the two seats in the middle row. Because of the angle I was leaning (across the seat that went down) and my arm was across the top of that seat, I wasn't able to pull the seat back up. It got a little scary for a few minutes until I was able to get the seat up enough to yank my hand out. DH and the kids were in the house so I would have been able to scream for them if needed, but my phone was in my opposite pocket and I wouldn't have been able to reach it.

I wonder if something like that happened with him - maybe he hit a lever or something and the weight of his body caused the seat to flip and trap him. It says he was leaning over the seats, I think. I know my kids have done that many times.

My heart is torn in pieces for this child and his family. It's one of the saddest things I have ever read :(
 
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I used to have a 2002 Honda Odyssey. It was a split third row bench seat. I can only guess that he must have accidentally pulled the release lever when he leaned back into the cargo well for tennis balls. Maybe only one of the seats were in the upright position and it flipped over with his weight pressed on it after accidentally pulling the release lever.

Just heartbreaking. I just read that he had some physical mobility issues, so maybe that prevented him from getting himself out from under the seat.

I currently have a 2014 Honda Odyssey and it still has the split bench seat for the third row with the same release system to fold the seats flat into the cargo well. This had to have been just a freak accident.
 
Horrible. My kids and their friends have leaned over the third row and climbed back and forth countless times in our Odyssey’s.
That is what alarmed me, thinking of all the kids who are in these vans. (And not just the Hondas. Mine were too.)

That's the real issue here. When I read that this poor boy was pleading for help and the police only searched, from an article I saw, two of the SEVEN parking lots and then just gave up, I just started shaking. I cannot even begin to fathom the suffering he endured or the pain his family is now facing. Knowing that something could have been done, but wasn't? I'm sick over it and I'm just a stranger miles and miles away.

ETA: An updated article I just read says that in his second call he said that he was in a "gold Honda Odyssey van," but the operator never responds. They don't know yet if the operator heard him or not, but that info was never passed along to police.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/12/us/ohio-teen-pinned-minivan-trnd/index.html
I read the dispatcher has been placed on administrative leave, as has one of the police officers.

I used to have a 2002 Honda Odyssey. It was a split third row bench seat. I can only guess that he must have accidentally pulled the release lever when he leaned back into the cargo well for tennis balls. Maybe only one of the seats were in the upright position and it flipped over with his weight pressed on it after accidentally pulling the release lever.

Just heartbreaking. I just read that he had some physical mobility issues, so maybe that prevented him from getting himself out from under the seat.

I currently have a 2014 Honda Odyssey and it still has the split bench seat for the third row with the same release system to fold the seats flat into the cargo well. This had to have been just a freak accident.
I hadn't read about the mobility issues. That might help explain why he couldn't get out.

I think what also just tears at me is that he knew he was dying. And being so close to help - it's not like he was stranded out in the wood or something, or lost in the darkness, etc.
 
I heard the 911 tape on the news this morning and it makes me want to cry again just thinking about it. Such a heartbreaking story.
 
The 911 call just played on the news feed playing in the background while doing chores . I am sitting here bawling .I cannot believe this happened .
 
The 911 call just played on the news feed playing in the background while doing chores . I am sitting here bawling .I cannot believe this happened .
Did they play the whole thing, including the boy's voice? Before, they said they wouldn't play his voice out of respect for his family. Ugh. I feel so bad for them.
 
I wish he had called his parents, too. They could’ve given his location to the police. I can’t listen to the call.
 
Why do they have to play the 911 call? Just because it is public doesn't mean it has to be broadcasted. I really think that is a horrible thing to do to his family. Shame on them for doing it, you know it is just to keep people watching/listening to their news channel.
 
I really want to not have heard about this. This is the most terrible situation to think about and it just makes me sick. that poor boy! and then I get mad. SO mad. God bless him and his family. :(
 
Why do they have to play the 911 call? Just because it is public doesn't mean it has to be broadcasted. I really think that is a horrible thing to do to his family. Shame on them for doing it, you know it is just to keep people watching/listening to their news channel.
Idk.

They did show a video illustration, too, of how they think this happened, and it was exactly as we thought - he reached over the bench seat, the seat collapsed and he fell over, upside down and with the back part of his body up against the rear lift gate, and the weight of the seat crushed his chest.

They also said his phone was way up in the front seat. He must've operated Siri remotely??
 
Both me & DH cried last night when we read it on yahoo because we imagined our son. This is beyond tragic. We teach our kids to call 911 in an emergency and they just didn't come. His last moments were spent telling his mom how much he loves her. =*( So many thoughts and prayers to the family.
 

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