Inset: Laura Beitler (Mentor PD). Background: The hotel where Beitler's children were allegedly found wandering outside alone at night (Google Maps).
A 36-year-old mother in Ohio is accused of risking the lives of her young children, allegedly letting her daughters, ages 8 and 3, wander around outside their hotel barely dressed as they dealt with single-digit winter temperatures.
Laura Beitler was taken into custody Thursday and charged with endangering the welfare of a child, authorities announced.
Police responded to a 911 call at the Extended Stay America hotel in the 5600 block of Emerald Court regarding a child in distress at about 12:25 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 29, the Mentor Police Department said in a news release. The caller was a "concerned resident" who told the dispatcher they found a little girl wandering around the hotel parking lot alone and had brought the child inside to safety.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders quickly located the child, who was confirmed to be 3 years old, and "immediately placed her in a warmed patrol vehicle." Police noted that the toddler "was wearing only a sweater in temperatures of 8 degrees with 10 mph winds."
Interviews with hotel residents revealed that the child had been staying at the hotel with a family.
"Officers located the family's room and made contact with the mother, Laura Beitler," the release states. "Ms. Beitler had been asleep and was unaware her daughter had left the room. During the conversation, she discovered her 8-year-old daughter was also missing."
Police requested additional units and assistance from the Lake County drone team as they began searching for the missing child. Several guests at the hotel also aided authorities in their search efforts.
A short while later, authorities were notified that an 8-year-old girl had been located outside of the nearby Hampton Inn, which is just under a quarter-mile walk from the Extended Stay America. "She was wearing only a t-shirt and sneakers" when police found her.
Citing the cold-weather exposure, medics transported both girls to Tripoint Medical Center, where they were examined by doctors and cleared for release.
Police placed Beitler under arrest as the girls' father arrived at the hotel and took custody of the children. Police said the father had been away due to a family emergency.
Police thanked the hotel residents who assisted with the search, saying their "quick and decisive actions helped ensure a positive outcome in a situation which could have easily turned tragic."
"It was really a bad situation," Mentor Police Capt. Mike Majernik told Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC. "Luckily they were transported to the hospital by our fire department and they checked out OK. But [with] these extreme temperatures — it could have been bad."
Beitler told WKYC that she had been living at the hotel with her five children after losing her home.
"I feel horrible," an emotional Beitler told the station. "I mean, one of my worst fears is for something to happen to my daughter, someone coming and taking her because she gets outside. And she doesn't just leave with clothes on either — she will leave with nothing on, because clothing to autistic children is restrictive and sometimes they don't want to wear it, and she's one of those children that doesn't like to wear their clothing."
Beitler is currently scheduled to make her first court appearance on Monday.
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