Doctor Left Baby Granddaughter In Hot Car For 8 Hours After Forgetting To Drop Her Off At Daycare

When the father of a 10-month-old baby girl in Kentucky arrived at daycare to pick her up, he received the strangest answer from the staff.

He was told nobody showed up to drop off his daughter, Scottie Gwyn Crowell, that morning on August 13.

The horrifying truth soon emerged, revealing how the little one tragically passed in the heat that day.

A Kentucky father went to pick up his 10-month-old daughter from daycare, only to learn she had never been dropped off

Barnett Strother Funeral Home

Born on September 20, 2025, via in vitro fertilization, Scottie Gwyn Crowell was her parents’ “sweet baby girl” and the second child of the family.

“After a failed embryo transfer, this beautiful IVF baby has brought us such joy,” Scottie’s mom Sydni Crowell, 33, wrote on social media next to a photo of her swaddled newborn baby.

The OB/GYN mother had completed her residency at Mercy Hospital in St Louis and started working at Baptist Health Deaconess last year.

Owensboro Health

The baby’s grandmother Stacey Fazenbaker, also a doctor, had moved to Madisonville a year earlier to be close to her Sydni.

On the morning of August 13, Stacey had picked Scottie up from home to drop her off at daycare.

It had only been about a year since Stacey moved to Madisonville to be closer to her daughter’s family

Google Maps

By 4 p.m. the same day, Scottie’s father Micah Crowell went to the daycare to pick his little one up. But the staff told him that nobody had shown up to drop her off that morning.

The father then called up Sydni, who eventually called her mom to find out what happened.

That’s when Stacey realized her granddaughter was still strapped in the backseat of her car.

EyewitnessNewsWEHTWTVW

Stacey allegedly forgot to drop the child off at daycare and went straight to work at Owensboro Health Multicare at around 8 a.m. that morning.

The baby was left alone in the scorching heat for about eight hours. 

Temperatures that day reached around 95 degree Fahrenheit (35 degree Celsius) and reportedly would have touched 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degree Celsius) inside the car.

The baby had been left strapped in the backseat of her grandmother’s car for about eight hours

Barnett Strother Funeral Home

Little Scottie slowly lost her life in the vehicle and was only found after Sydni contacted Stacey in the evening. 

“She [Fazenbaker] ran outside with some co-workers to get the child,” Madisonville Police Major Jason McKnight told reporters. “But it was far too late by then.”

“Officers arrived on scene, [paramedics] and the fire department arrived shortly after they did, and they found the infant,” he continued.

Barnett Strother Funeral Home

“The grandmother had already got the child, and so the officers tried some lifesaving measures, but unfortunately it was too late for that.”

Scottie was pronounced lifeless at the scene, and the case remains under investigation, with CPS also being involved.

McKnight said the grandmother had agreed to give authorities a blood test to check whether she was under the influence of alcohol or any substances.

He said they are waiting for the results. “We’re not exactly expecting anything with that, but just to make sure, just to clear it off the table,” he added.

No charges have been filed, as police continue to investigate the tragedy

Barnett Strother Funeral Home

No charges have been filed so far. 

“Anybody who loses a child obviously is going to be very upset, and this is no different,” McKnight told reporters. “So yes, the families were all there and more came, after the fact. But yes, for this community, it’s a pretty big deal.”

Sydni’s sister Emmy Fazenbaker, a sports reporter for Middle Tennessee State University, shared a tribute online for her niece.

“We love you so much, our sweet baby girl,” she wrote. 

Julieta Camila Tosto/Pexels (not the actual photo)

Patients who have been treated by Stacey defended the doctor and said it can’t be anything more than a “mistake.”

“She is the most caring person and doctor I have ever met. She has helped thousands of people with her functional health knowledge,” one patient named Angela Ocasio wrote on social media.

Former patients defended the grandmother and said she would spend the rest of her life “with regrets”

Polina Smelova/Pexels (not the actual photo)

“She moved to Madisonville to be close to her family and grandchild,” she added. “It was a mistake, we all make them, unfortunately this was a fatal one.”

Another former patient, Theresa Tichenor, also defended the doctor, saying, “She will spend the rest of her life with regrets. You’re not in her shoes, please don’t judge.”

Since the year 1998, around 1067 children aged between 5 days to 14 years lost their lives from Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke (PVH), meaning they suffered a heatstroke after being left alone in a vehicle, according to noheatstroke.org.

Every single one of these fatalities could have been prevented. And more than half of the fatalities (54%) were kids below the age of two.

The average number of children who lose their lives in a hot car is 37, and the year 2025 saw 34 children losing their lives this way.

“Put your cellphone next to your baby. You’ll never forget your kid,” one suggested online 

Poll Question

Total votes ·

Thanks! Check out the results:

Total votes ·

Newsletter

Subscribe to Access
Exclusive Polls

Subscribe

By entering your email and clicking Subscribe, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Privacy Policy.

Thank you! You've successfully subscribed to newsletters!

Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda!