Five-month-old baby dies after being forgotten in her car seat inside hot minivan for FOUR HOURS



A 5-month-old baby girl died Tuesday night in Minnesota after police say she was left alone inside a minivan for hours.



Police officers and an EMS worker responded to a report of an unresponsive child in Moorhead shortly after 8.20pm and learned the girl had been left in a car seat inside the vehicle for about four hours.



The first responder found that the infant had been moved to a nearby apartment and began administering CPR. However, the child, identified as Christiana Nathany Sandstrom, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Forgotten baby: Five-month-old Christiana Sandstrom was pronounced dead on the scene inside her parents' Moorhead, Minnesota, home, after police say her father accidentally left her in the family minivan

Police Lt. Chris Carey said as of now, it appears that the child's death was accidental. It remains unknown if the windows in the minivan had been opened.



According to the National Weather Service, temperatures in Moorhead were around 80 degrees most of Tuesday afternoon and peaked at 82 degrees by 6pm.



Law enforcement officials say the deceased child was the daughter of Andrew Sandstrom, 24, and his 27-year-old wife, Shayna Sandstrom.



It all started when Andrew Sandstrom went to drop off his wife at work, and took the couple’s six children all under the age of seven, along for the ride in the minivan, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.



He later returned home and unloaded his brood. It was not until four hours later that police say the 23-year-old man realized that his 5-month-old baby was still in the vehicle outside.



Police were called to the Sandstroms' home in the 1100 block of 19th Street South at 8.22pm Tuesday.



When officers arrived on the scene, they witnessed Mr Sandstrom holding his unresponsive baby in his arms.



An EMS worker performed CPR on baby Christiana in an attempt to revive her, but the infant was pronounced dead.



More family drama: Officers on the scene removed the couple's remaining five children, all under the age of seven, after observing that the family have lived in filthy conditions unfit for kids

The baby's body will be sent to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office, where an autopsy will be performed to determine the exact cause of death.



Five other young kids were discovered inside the Sandstroms' apartment, which has been described by police as extremely filthy and unsafe for children, the local station ValleyNewsLive.com reported.



Clay County Social Services removed the couple's remaining kids from the home and placed them elsewhere.



Police say the parents will be investigated in connection to possible allegations of child neglect.



According to the Kansas-based non-profit group KidsAndCars.org , there have been nine child vehicular heat stroke deaths, counting baby Christiana.

Last year, as many as 32 children perished after being left in overheated cars.









