A Rock Island toddler was pronounced dead from hypothermia earlier this week after she was found frozen outside her family home.
Charlotte “Charlie” Handelman exited the family’s warm house through a window left slightly open and fell off the second-story but wasn’t injured, authorities said.
The 3-year-old tried hard to get back to the home after the fall as temperatures dropped below 16 degrees overnight.
It remains unclear when exactly the toddler got out of her home but it was likely between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
She was discovered dead outside the property the next morning by her shocked father who then called the police.
“It’s being investigated as nothing more than a tragic accident,” Rock Island County coroner Brian Gustafson said. “She was a beautiful little girl. It’s absolutely tragic.”
