Hertz Employees Find A 2-Year-Old In A Returned Rental Car; Child’s Grandfather Arrested

Hertz employees found a 2-year-old that was locked in a hot rental car for 45 minutes after being returned at an airport Hertz car rental facility.

On October 10, around 6 p.m., authorities received reports about a toddler that was in a locked vehicle in the car return lot. The vehicle had been returned at 5:13 p.m.

Deputies arrived at Daytona Beach International Airport and found the Hertz employee holding the child.

The child’s “face was warm and streaked with dried tears, but was breathing normally,” a statement from the Volusia Sheriff’s Office stated.

Paramedics examined the child and found she was “scared and hot” but did not have any medical issues.

Hertz employees later received a call from the mother of the child. She told them that her father 62-year-old David Towner was babysitting his granddaughter for the day when he left her in the rental car.

The mother drove to the airport and picked up her daughter.

Once deputies got in touch with the grandfather he was “remorseful and cooperative,” according to the statement.

Towner was charged with one count of child neglect and booked into the Volusia County Jail.

The Hertz employees was awarded with citizens awards after the sheriff’s department notified the Department of Children and Families about the incident.