A Nebraska woman is facing a child abuse charge after allegedly leaving her 3-month-old baby in a hot car as she was horseback riding at a county fair.
Cara Dugan, 40, was arrested at the Merrick County Fairgrounds on Aug. 24 after authorities responded to a call that an infant had been left in a pickup truck with the engine off and window partially open, the Merrick County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Dugan was found inside a building riding a horse as it was around 90 degrees outside, according to the sheriff’s office.
Meanwhile, Edgar Estrada, a roping contestant at the fair, sprang into action after hearing a baby cry, Fox Nebraska reported.
The good Samaritan acted like a knight-in-shining armor, mounting his horse and galloping through the parking lot looking for the baby after he didn’t see one in the stands or audience, the outlet reported.
“I got on my horse to warm it up again, get ready and I started listening to the sounds of a baby crying,” said Estrada. “I instantly got on the horse and ran up and down the parking lot area where the vehicles were at and I was just weaving in and out looking for this crying baby.”
An announcement was made over the loudspeakers and people attending the roping event came to help look for the source of the crying, Fox News reported. In a dramatic recovery, Edgar located the baby in a car after about 10 minutes of searching, pried the window down, and was able to yank the door open.
When authorities arrived at the scene at 1:30 p.m., they found that the infant had been left unattended in a pickup with the engine off, adding that the windows were “only partially ajar for a substantial amount of time.”
Law enforcement took the child to a local hospital, where it was determined the baby did not sustain any injuries.
The outside temperature was recorded at 89-90 degrees, authorities said.
The child was placed in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, the sheriff’s office said.
In many other similar instances, babies left in hot cars tragically never make it out alive.
Last week in Texas a 9-month-old baby died after being left for eight hours in the safety seat of a car by the child’s grandmother — a day after a 22-month-old died in a hot car in another part of the state.
There have been at least 25 other cases this year alone of children dying in hot cars, according to Kids and Car Safety.