Rotterdam parents leave toddler, baby home alone to go to the movies
A couple in Rotterdam left their toddler and baby home alone on Wednesday night to go to the movies. The situation was discovered when the little girl called the police, the officer who answered the call wrote on Facebook.
"My phone rings, it is an [emergency number] 112 report. I start with 'Good evening police...' but before I could finish speaking I hear a child's voice asking: 'Where's mommy?'", the officer wrote. "I don't know where mommy is." The girl on the line sounds no older than 3 or 4 and there's a baby crying in the background.
Usually when children call the emergency number, they're just playing with the telephone. But the officer did not trust the situation with the crying toddler and baby. The officer asked the girl what her name is and who was crying in the background. "Emma", she said in a sobbing voice. "That's my brother, but he is still very small." To make sure, the officer asks if she's sure mommy's not home, and if dad's maybe there. "I cant find them."
The officer tells Emma to stay on the line - "I'm going to help you and we'll find mommy toghether". Emma knows she lives in Rotterdam, but can't give a street address. She's too young to read, so can't tell the police what the license plate of the car parked outside is. The officer asks a colleague to look up the address connected to the phone number. There's a hit - a street address in Rotterdam.
Patrolling officers are sent to the adress. When they arrive, the officer on the phone asks Emma if she sees a police officer. She says no - she's looking out of the bedroom window. Turns out the residents of that home recently moved.
While the officers involved wonder what to do now, there's another call to the emergency line. A Rotterdam man reports seeing a small girl in the window of a dark house. He knocked on the door, but got no response. Police officers respond to the address, and Emma says: "I see a police car!" The little girl in the window is Emma, the officer wrote.
It turns out Emma's parents went to the movies, according to the police. "Emma and her brother always sleep through and never wake up before a certain time. The parents could not get a babysitter and they gambled that it would be okay..."
The police gave Emma's parents a good talking to and Youth Services were called in.
