Two children in Ouachita County, Arkansas, survived "pure hell" this week after a car crash killed their pregnant mother and they were left undiscovered for days.
Following a tragic accident on Highway 24, 3-year-old boy Kylen Holliman escaped the car wreck through the sunroof and made his way to the road. Local police responded to a call just before 8 a.m. on Monday after the child was reported on the highway unattended.
Ouachita County Sheriff's Department (OCSD) deputies said he was found with scratches and cuts, but was otherwise in good health. In the wake of a public appeal, his family was identified, though members said they had not been in contact with the mother for days.
Officials told local media that police who went back to the scene where the child was spotted found the crash location, which was not visible from the main road. The vehicle was on its side and a 1-year-old boy was still buckled into a car seat. It appeared the mother had been ejected from the car. The cause of the accident is under investigation, law enforcement said.
The child inside the car was transported to a local hospital and is expected to survive. "They went through pure hell, no doubt," said Ouachita County Sheriff detective Lt. Nathan Greeley.
Both children suffered dehydration, local media outlets reported Tuesday. The mother has been identified as 25-year-old Lisa Holliman. It is believed that she was four weeks pregnant.
According to ABC News, Arkansas county officials said late on Tuesday that the date of the crash may have been as far back as last Thursday, not Saturday as previously believed. The publication said the mother may have lost control of the car while driving.
James Holliman, Lisa's father, told KARK-TV in an interview that three-year-old Kylen was a hero and opened up about the heartbreak of losing his daughter. He said: "I'll never get up and see her, I'll never get to talk to her, laugh with her. My baby's gone.
"When [Kylen] climbed out of that car, seeing his mother dead like that, like she was, he tried to wake his mom up. He's a hero. It was hard to see my grandson laying there like that… all cut up. We just found that out at the hospital that [Lisa] was pregnant. We didn't know. We lost two."
In a brief statement, police said: "The Ouachita County Sheriff's Department offers our deepest sympathy to the family for their loss and our thanks to God for the protection of the children."
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