TheCatSite.com › Forums › General Forums › IMO: In My Opinion › Laundromat death
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Laundromat death

post #1 of 30
6/24/05 at 10:30am
Thread Starter 
Has anybody else seen this story? A 5-year-old died in a laundromat washing machine. She and her 14-year-old brother were the only ones in the place.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...referrer=email
I hate to say it, but I'm very suspicious of the brother.
Reply
post #2 of 30
6/24/05 at 10:39am
It certainly appears that way.
What is with all the enigmatic statements made by the Dad about "a story you won't believe" and underlying causes...
hmmm. weird.
Reply
post #3 of 30
6/24/05 at 10:42am
What the father said is what made me look twice. Pretty obvious that he knows what happened to the little girl. What an odd story...
Reply
post #4 of 30
6/24/05 at 11:00am
From the article: "Regardless of how Hope Wagoner got into the washer, no matter how it got turned on, most who gathered agreed that someone should have been keeping an eye on the girl.

"That child should have been watched," Marie Keesee told the crowd before joining in a verse of "Amazing Grace.""
Singing Amazing Grace and judging this mother at the same time...
I imagine the 14 year old was supossed to be watching her while the mom was outside on the phone.
Reply
post #5 of 30
6/24/05 at 11:25am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rockcat
I imagine the 14 year old was supossed to be watching her while the mom was outside on the phone.
That's what I thought.
Reply
post #6 of 30
6/24/05 at 11:34am
You also have to wonder why a 14 year old and 5 year old were sent to the laundromat by themselves.
Reply
post #7 of 30
6/24/05 at 11:35am
Poor girl. I agree dad knows what happened his statements are odd....
Reply
post #8 of 30
6/24/05 at 11:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by eburgess
You also have to wonder why a 14 year old and 5 year old were sent to the laundromat by themselves.
The mom was outside on the phone. They lived nearby.
Reply
post #9 of 30
6/26/05 at 8:14am
5 years ago, I ran a laundry for my sister. We had the Milnor machines. They are difficult to latch so I really doubt that there was any way that the girl could have closed the door herself. IMO this was a deliberate act to shut the door & operate the machine. Certainly a 14 yo was at an age to be responsible for the safety of his sister; how horrible for the mom....If it was an accident, she will probably blame herself for being on the phone; if it was deliberate, she will prob. blame herself for not realizing the severity of the "bad blood" between the brother & sister....and that poor child, what she went through!!I hope she has lots of TCS cats on the other side of RB to give her the purrs, rubs & head-butts.
Reply
post #10 of 30
6/26/05 at 9:03am
That just makes me so sad.
I hope that the real truth comes out... for that little soul that was lost in such a horrific way.
Reply
post #11 of 30
6/26/05 at 11:24am
I think somebody had to lock the machine. Even if the girl climbed into a machine, those machines-I believe it was a front loader-lock from the outside. If the half-brother was the only one in there, then obviously, he is the prime suspect. Older children are frequently resentful of their younger siblings because of the attention parents pay to the younger kids.
Reply
post #12 of 30
6/26/05 at 11:29am
Oh, how terrible!
Reply
post #13 of 30
6/26/05 at 11:30am
I haven't seen that story, but I'm not surprised...this world is getting to be one screwed up place!!!
Reply
post #14 of 30
6/26/05 at 8:47pm
Here is what I think happened. The 14 year old is the stepfathers son. The stepfather said there is more to this story than you know. So my thing is either the boy told him what happened or he put the boy up to something. A large capacity washer like that doesnt magically just start running, and a door that heavy that has to be broken with a large rock cant be shut from the inside. Something is fishy. I am sure when they watch the security tapes they will see what really happened.
Reply
post #15 of 30
6/27/05 at 10:43am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roxy_loves_CJ
Here is what I think happened. The 14 year old is the stepfathers son. The stepfather said there is more to this story than you know. So my thing is either the boy told him what happened or he put the boy up to something. A large capacity washer like that doesnt magically just start running, and a door that heavy that has to be broken with a large rock cant be shut from the inside. Something is fishy. I am sure when they watch the security tapes they will see what really happened.
There are still no updates. I agree that something is very fishy, and find the father's statements disturbing. Here's what a representative of the washer manufacturer said: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...062202371.html
"Sheffield said an engineer from the washing machine's manufacturer, Pellerin Milnor Corp. of Louisiana, came to town yesterday to determine whether the machine was malfunctioning.

Jim Moran, the company's general counsel, said the washing machine door locks airtight when money is inserted and the door is shut -- and can be closed only from the outside. The door does not open until a cycle is complete, he said, to prevent people from sticking their arms inside the fast-moving cylinder.

"It would be extremely difficult for a little girl to crawl into the machine and would be impossible for her to close the door by herself since there's no place to grab it from the inside," Moran said. "Someone else would have had to close the door. It doesn't close gently. You've got to close it hard."'
Reply
post #16 of 30
7/10/05 at 8:39pm
They've now charged the 14 year old boy with the murder of the little girl

http://www.tricities.com/servlet/Sat...s/localnews&s=
Reply
post #17 of 30
7/10/05 at 8:51pm
Thanks for the update, Kelly, that is just horrible! Horrible.
Reply
post #18 of 30
7/10/05 at 9:00pm
It still leaves a lot of unanswered questions, was the boy's fingerprints on the coins inside the washer, what was seen on the video camera, how was the boy acting when the mom returned, had the boy been fighting with the girl earlier that day?.... the fact that this information is not released means that more than likely it is incriminating evidence that will come up during the trial. what is the world coming to?
Reply
post #19 of 30
7/10/05 at 9:03pm
I must say, I am not surprised at all. He was the only one there, and those machines do not lock from the outside. You have to use a latch to lock the door from the outside. There just was no way for the child to get inside and lock the machine, let alone start the washing cycle.
Reply
post #20 of 30
7/11/05 at 3:34am
i saw this on the german news a few weeks ago
Reply
post #21 of 30
7/11/05 at 6:55am
How sad.
Reply
post #22 of 30
7/11/05 at 11:31am
Thread Starter 
This article contains a few more details. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...070702246.html Can you believe the girl's father's comments?
Reply
post #23 of 30
7/11/05 at 1:02pm
Did you read the part about wanting to sue the washing machine company? I understand and agree there should be an emergency cutoff but to blame them for the fact the girl got put in there and $2.75 in quarters was put in the machine and the door shut on her, that hardly sounds like the companies fault.
Reply
post #24 of 30
7/11/05 at 1:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcat
This article contains a few more details. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...070702246.html Can you believe the girl's father's comments?
My god! Did no one love that poor little girl besides her mother?? It sounds like the father is looking at this as a possible monetary windfall, not as the loss of a precious life.
Reply
post #25 of 30
7/11/05 at 2:05pm
Wasn't this also his bio. daughter and the son his step son and not bio. son?

Not that it makes a difference generally, but I would think he would be acting even somewhat anguished if this were his own son, let alone his stepson!!

Sad.
Reply
post #26 of 30
7/11/05 at 3:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by valanhb
My god! Did no one love that poor little girl besides her mother?? It sounds like the father is looking at this as a possible monetary windfall, not as the loss of a precious life.
Wow! This guy is amazing. His wife didn't watch the child, his step son is most likely the one who put the child into the washer, but he wants money for the death of his daughter?
Reply
post #27 of 30
7/11/05 at 4:41pm
Yes, never look at the problem, just blame someone or something else, hopefully a company with deep pockets!

This is a terrible case, but the washing machine company seems to have lots of safety features. I can't imagine the pain this whole family is going through, and that father sounds like a nut!
Reply
post #28 of 30
7/12/05 at 6:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by elizwithcat
Wow! This guy is amazing. His wife didn't watch the child, his step son is most likely the one who put the child into the washer, but he wants money for the death of his daughter?
I agree about the stepdad, but can't we give the wife the benefit of the doubt? She was outside the laundrymat on the phone. Her daughter was with her 14 year old stepbrother. She must have intended the boy to watch her. I'm sure she didn't think he would kill her!
Reply
post #29 of 30
7/12/05 at 7:01am
Unless the machine was faulty and the girl was able to close it on herself I dont see why they should get a dime. Its very sad for them, but if the son or someone else closed the door on her and somehow started the machine, then it has nothing to do with the washing machine company.

I find it hard to believe the mother never sensed the animosity between son and daughter... I guess we will never know the full story.
Reply
post #30 of 30
7/13/05 at 12:26am
Maybe the boy had some sort of developmental problem?
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: IMO: In My Opinion
TheCatSite.com › Forums › General Forums › IMO: In My Opinion › Laundromat death