COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA — An Iowa mother was arrested Tuesday during some of the coldest temperatures the state has experienced in years after she left two toddlers in an unattended car, police said. A concerned citizen notified police in Council Bluffs after seeing the children, who are 2 and 4 years old, according to a news release.
Stephany Moore, 25, faces two charges of child endangerment, police said. The good Samaritan who reported the incident provided shelter for the toddlers until police arrived, and then they were placed in protective custody.
The children had been alone in the car for about 45 minutes when the woman made the report, police said. The unlocked car was not running, a window was partially down and the children were wearing only light clothing, the report said.
At the time, the actual temperature was 5 degrees, with a wind chill temperature around 15 degrees below zero. The children weren’t injured.
The incident about 10:30 a.m. occurred during a weather phenomenon known as a polar vortex that occasionally sends a blast of Arctic air far south. Much of the Midwest, including Council Bluffs along Iowa’s western border, is experiencing life-threatening extreme cold.
The polar vortex is blamed for the deaths of at least six people across the United States, including three in Iowa, CBS News reported. The extremely cold air is shattering records across Iowa and the rest of the Midwest.
Schools and universities across the state were closed Wednesday and many businesses told their employees to stay home. The U.S. Postal service suspended mail delivery Wednesday in Iowa and about a dozen other Midwest states.
Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
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