Missing Texas boy, 2, found dead inside neighbor's SUV, authorities trying to determine how he got inside vehicle
A Texas boy was found dead inside a neighbor's SUV parked outside the boy's family apartment on Wednesday morning after he was reported missing the previous afternoon.
Addressing a news conference on Wednesday, Denton Police Chief Frank Dixon said there were no suspects or charges as yet in the death of two-year-old Sarbesh Gurung, adding they were still trying to determine how he ended up inside the vehicle, People reports.
“It’s not a time to point fingers; it’s not a time to assign blame,” he said. “It’s a time for us collectively to come together, grieve together and heal together.”
Sarbesh's mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, found the child missing after she said she'd put him down for a nap around 2 pm Tuesday. She immediately alerted authorities and prompted a frantic search for her son.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, over 200 people joined the police and other public safety agencies to search around the blocks surrounding the family's apartment. Sarbesh's body was eventually found in the back of a neighbor's vehicle in the early hours of Wednesday, police said.
While police had previously combed the same area "in pretty close proximity", Dixon said it was hard to see inside the vehicle as it had tinted windows, sun shades, and a sunscreen in place.
“Can we conclusively say that someone went and checked every door handle of every vehicle out there? Obviously, we can’t say that,” he said. “We don’t know if the car was unlocked … We just don’t know.”
In a conversation with the Star-Telegram, Hitesh Adhikari, a friend of the victim's family who assisted in the search, revealed the boy's father is a fellow student from Nepal studying at the University of North Texas.
“We feel very heartbroken…hearing the news.The family is just devastated,” he said. “The mother is being treated right now for some… undetermined medical condition. She had a panic attack when she was notified.”
But authorities never issued an AMBER Alert for the missing child as there were no signs of abduction or foul play.
The cause and manner of death are yet to be established after an autopsy, but Dixon has vowed the investigation will remain open “until we can answer all the questions that we have.”
“There are some questions we’ll probably never have answers for, and that’s unfortunate,” he said.