A father would have forgotten his six-month-old baby in his vehicle on Friday morning, convinced that he had been taken to his daycare center in downtown Montreal. The tragic discovery of the lifeless body occurred in the early evening.
The hypothesis favored by the Montreal police on Friday night is that the father would never have gone to the daycare to drop off his baby boy. He would have gone straight to work. The child would have spent several hours in the family SUV.
According to Environment Canada, the temperature in Montreal reached 25 ° C around 17:00.
The parents, in their thirties, were taken to the hospital for a violent nervous shock. Caught in tears and inconsolable air, they are embarked with pain and misery in the ambulance, supported by paramedics.
Just before leaving, they hugged the daycare workers, who seemed aghast at the tragedy. They too have been referred to a hospital center.
The atmosphere was heavy even for the paramedics who intervened on the tragedy. Many of them tried to comfort themselves, hugging each other for a long time, their faces low.
Never at daycare
The story is reminiscent of a similar case that occurred in 2016, in Saint-Jérôme.
It was after his day's work that the father went to the Imagination private daycare, located at the corner of William Street and Robert-Bourassa Boulevard, to pick up his child, around 5:30 pm Friday.
The employees told him that the child was never there.
The father rushed to his SUV in the adjacent parking lot and made the sad discovery of the lifeless body by opening his rear door. In panic, he took his baby in his arms and brought him inside to try to resuscitate him.
Shortly after, the first responders arrived and attempted resuscitation, unsuccessful.
The little boy's mother arrived shortly after.
Parents met
A coroner was dispatched to the scene to determine the circumstances of this event and the cause of death. Montreal police investigators assist him.
"It was possible to speak very briefly with the child's parents, who are in shock. They will be met when they are ready, out of respect. We will try to reconstruct the time line of the day to understand what may have happened, "said Jean-Pierre Brabant, spokesman for the Police Department of the City of Montreal.
The father's vehicle was moved by a tow truck to carry out expert appraisals, he said. Images of surveillance cameras will also be analyzed.
THE THIRD TRAGIC OBLIVION IN QUEBEC IN 15 YEARS
August 2016
In 2016, a 40-year-old father forgot his 11-month-old son all day in his car in the sun, thinking he had dropped him off at the daycare.
The body of an 11-month-old child was found dead in the family car in Saint-Jérôme, in the Laurentians. He had been forgotten in the car by his father who had taken him to the daycare. A few months later, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions advised that the father would not be charged with any crime in this case.
July 2003
Dominic Martin, left, carries with his wife (center) the coffin of the deceased baby after being forgotten eight hours in his car.
Dominic Martin, the 23-month-old father of little Audrey, had left her child all day in her car parked near LaSalle metro station in Montreal. He thought he left her at the daycare before going to work. He found her inanimate after her day's work. The man was charged with manslaughter, but the charge was later withdrawn.