It was a hot summer day in Keene, New Hampshire, when police lieutenant Jason Short responded to a 911 call. Someone had seen a baby roasting inside of a car which had been parked near a Walmart.
When he got to the vehicle, sure enough, a tiny infant was locked inside.
Lt. Short’s instincts kicked in. He smashed the window and retrieved the lifeless infant.
But something was wrong.
The baby wasn’t breathing, and when Short performed CPR, it didn’t seem to be working.
That’s when he realized that it might not be a baby at all.
Lt. Short spoke to WMUR about the incident:
“I went to put my finger in its mouth and it was all resistance,” he said.
“And I’m like, ‘This is a doll.’”
It was a doll, made to look exactly like a real baby.
The doll is what’s known as a “reborn” doll and they are often purchased as a coping mechanism by grieving parents who have lost a child.
That was the situation here and while it was an unfortunate situation, Lt. Short, he says that he would make the same decision again in a heartbeat:
“I would never assume that it’s a doll,” he said.
“I would always assume that it’s a child. I would never do anything different.”
The police department will be paying $300 to fix Seiffert’s window.
She also had a sticker made, that she affixed to her car, to let future officers know that the vehicle is occupied by a doll, and not a real baby.