Disabled Daughter Found Alone Inside Towed Car 9 Days After Mother Abandoned The Vehicle

A severely disabled woman spent nine days alone inside a car before cops found the vehicle in a tow yard in Washington, police said.

The victim’s 45-year-old mother had parked the 2004 Cadillac at a gas station in Kent on Feb. 5 and walked away, leaving her 28-year-old disabled daughter inside the vehicle, according to a statement released Tuesday by the Kent Police Department. The gas station later had the parked vehicle privately towed unaware of the disabled woman inside.

The woman’s sister raised the alarm nine days after the mother left the car at the gas station. Kent Police responded to the Feb. 14 call about a potential missing person after the sister said she hadn’t seen her disabled sibling since earlier this month, according to the News & Observer.

“Kent Police Officers determined through investigation that the vehicle had been privately towed,” said the police department’s statement on Facebook. “Kent Officers contacted the tow company, who then located the daughter inside the vehicle. She had been inside the car for 9 days alone in the tow yard during near freezing weather.”

The victim was immediately transported to a local hospital medical treatment, police said.

Bonafacio Pauza of Skyway Towing said the company received a call from Kent police that led to one of the employees taking a closer look inside the 2004 Cadillac lying in the tow yard.

“Whoever it was that called us and said ‘please search the car,' they saved her life,” Pauza told KING 5. “We sent one of our drivers out, he unlocks the car and had to go through it. She was laying in the backseat and had a whole bunch of clothes and stuff on top of her.”

“She was bad enough that the employee immediately contacted 911 and had the ambulance and the police dispatched out here," Pauza added.

Pauza said it’s not unusual for the company’s drivers to tow vehicles without surveying the insides. However, he added that the driver looked through the windows and didn’t see anything unusual when the car was towed with the disabled woman inside.

Cops are currently investigating the circumstances that led to the woman being left alone in the car for days.

“We are extremely relieved that we were able to locate and rescue the victim. If not for the efforts of our officers and the support of King County Sheriffs and Fire, this incident would likely have ended in tragedy,” said Kent Police Chief Padilla in the Facebook statement.