Girl, 3, fell from window at home, died from cold, police say
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - A 3-year-old northwestern Illinois girl died after she apparently fell from a window on a frigid night and couldn’t get back inside her family’s home, police said.
Charlotte Handelman appears to have fallen out of a second-floor window at her family’s Rock Island home between 11 p.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday, when she was found outside, police said.
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The home is in the Quad Cities area, which is located along the Illinois-Iowa state line. She was pronounced dead at a hospital and preliminary autopsy findings show she died from hypothermia, The (Moline) Dispatch/The Rock Island Argus reported.
Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson called the child’s death "absolutely tragic."
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"It’s being investigated as nothing more than a tragic accident. She was a beautiful little girl," he said.
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