Foster baby dies in hot minivan in northeast

Foster baby dies in hot minivan in northeast

Authorities are investigating the death of a baby in a hot minivan in northeast Georgia after being left in the vehicle by her foster mother.

Chief Deputy David Cochran of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office says the 9-month-old died Tuesday. Cochran says the foster mother, 29-year-old Wendy Osborne of Nicholson, returned home about 2 p.m., went inside with two 3-year-old adopted girls, and fell asleep. He says about two and a half hours later, she realized she had left the baby inside the minivan and found the infant unresponsive.

Cochran says detectives have met with the district attorney's office to determine if any charges will be filed.

Two other foster children, girls 15 and 16, also lived with Osborne and her husband.

Dena Smith, spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Resources, says the teenagers have been placed with another foster home pending an investigation.

Smith says Osborne has been a foster parent for more than five years, and the infant had been with the family since April.