PLANTATION, Fla. – A woman called 911 after finding her 2-year-old daughter crying inside a dark and empty South Florida child care center.
Stephanie Martinez found the KinderCare Child Care Center in Plantation locked up when she arrived Tuesday afternoon to pick up her daughter, news outlets reported.
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The girl’s aunt, Samantha Scaramellino, told television stations that Martinez called her when she found the doors locked to see if she had picked up the girl.
That’s when she saw the child peering out a window.
Plantation police and fire rescue crews forced the doors open, let the child out and made sure she was OK.
The daycare center closes at 6 p.m. but the mother told news outlets no one had called her to pick up the girl.
Scaramellino also posted about the experience on Facebook, saying:
I still can’t believe this even happened. Tonight my two year old niece was left in the daycare center after they closed. My best friend who is like my sister went to pick up her daughter from the Kindercare on Sunrise and Nob Hill. To find the building closed with Lights turned off and all. I’m the only other person allowed for pick up. She called me to ask if I had her or if I got a call. I hadn’t heard anything. Now we’re both in a panic thinking the worst. After a call to the police I told her to walk around the building banging on all the windows and after awhile, in the pitch black room she sees her face emerge. The window is way taller then she, somehow after hearing the banging she pushed a chair in the dark to the window to see. Plantation police and fire rescue came and got her out. But after talking to another parent who picked up about 10 to 15 minutes before my friend arrived. Says numerous kids were still there and my niece was seen running around yelling. So she wasn’t asleep. Child services are arriving in the morning as well as a city detective. How does this even happen. The director heard hours after the incident and sent her a text not even a call, to check on the child. Anyone who knows information on this center or has legal advice my family is in need. Thank You!
KinderCare said in a statement that it takes seriously any concerns about child safety and will be notifying state licensing and child protective services officials of the incident.
“As these investigations take place, we’ll also take immediate steps to ensure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again,” the statement said, adding that teachers will be retrained on proper child supervision. “They’ll also receive additional training on child care best practices as part of the curriculum we already had planned for all teachers and staff at our centers across the country for Professional Development Day on Monday.”
Plantation police are continuing to investigate the incident.