5-Year-Old Trapped in Washing Machine Dies
A 5-year-old girl died after becoming trapped in a washing machine at a coin-operated laundry in Chilhowie in the southwest part of the state, authorities said.
Rebecca Hope Wagoner was pronounced dead Friday at a hospital.
The child’s mother told investigators that she stepped outside the laundry, leaving the girl with her 14-year-old brother, Police Chief Dwayne Sheffield said.
When she saw the girl inside the front-loading machine, which had water in it, she tried to open the door, but it would not budge. She smashed the glass window in the door with a rock and pulled her daughter out, authorities said.
Investigators said they were looking into how the girl became trapped inside.
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