Bodies of Mom & Baby Found Naked 200 Yards from Crashed Car

Blondie in Spokane

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Bodies found in field near crashed car identified as artist, 27, and her 1-year-old daughter but police still don't know how the mother and child died

The victims have been identified as 27-year-old Lindsay Groce Gardner and her daughter Hailey Gardner, 13 months

Police believe the mother and child are connected to a crashed car that was found about 200 yards away from their dead bodies

But they don't know if the crash caused their death since they did not seem to be majorly injured - besides a few scratches

The medical examiner's office is still trying to determine a cause of death

In 2013, Gardner wrote a personal blog about living in California with her husband and the difficulties achieving their dreams

In her last post, then-pregnant Gardner asked her readers to pray for her because they were moving to a new town with no job or home lined up


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ce-don-t-know-mother-child.html#ixzz3Oumr87C4


Woman, child found dead in Fort Worth named

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/loca...found-dead-near-fort-worth-accident/21709833/
 
from BiS's DM link (above)

Ms Gardner lived in an apartment building about five miles away from where her body was found [....]

Gardner's clothes were strewn in the field between the car and her body, indicating she undressed as she walked with her baby away from the car.

and also see

Mother, child found dead in southwest Fort Worth field are identified (star-telegram.com)

Woman and baby found dead in field identified (dfw.cbslocal.com)

Bodies found in field connected to car crash (nbcdfw.com)
 
This is bizarre. I wonder if Mom had hypothermia which made her take her clothes off?

The temp went down to ZERO in Fort Worth that night/morning.

The only thing that baffles me is that they are saying there are no real signs of severe injuries to either of them that would cause their deaths. (from the accident)

What a horribly sad situation. It's heartbreaking. :(
 
She and the baby were found at 11:00am but the car was found a few hours earlier.

I wonder when the crash occurred? Did the husband know she was missing? Was she home the night before? If so, what time did she leave in the morning?

How long were they in the car? Did she pass out from the impact then wake up freezing (hypothermia)? Why did she unlatch the baby's seat, trek across the field, and then huddle with the baby?

At what point did the baby's clothes come off? Was it all in an attempt to get warm?

Why wouldn't she have walked back out to the road?

What if she was emotionally distressed, took meds, ran from the house with the child, crashed, then couldn't think straight? So, so strange!

From her FB page, it seems clear to me that she had lots of love and support from her mommy friends and that she was respected and admired.
 
She and the baby were found at 11:00am but the car was found a few hours earlier.

I wonder when the crash occurred? Did the husband know she was missing? Was she home the night before? If so, what time did she leave in the morning?

How long were they in the car? Did she pass out from the impact then wake up freezing (hypothermia)? Why did she unlatch the baby's seat, trek across the field, and then huddle with the baby?

At what point did the baby's clothes come off? Was it all in an attempt to get warm?

Why wouldn't she have walked back out to the road?

What if she was emotionally distressed, took meds, ran from the house with the child, crashed, then couldn't think straight? So, so strange!

From her FB page, it seems clear to me that she had lots of love and support from her mommy friends and that she was respected and admired.

Wondering the same thing about the last time husband saw her and if she was reported missing. I don't think the baby was naked.....

Did she have a cell phone?

If she was carrying the baby in a car seat, it would be pretty difficult to undress yourself while walking and carrying a baby in a carseat. Unless she periodically stopped to remove more articles of clothing.

If she didn't have a cell phone, or couldn't find it, I think she probably had the accident the night before (maybe avoiding a deer), car broke down so no heat, and then hypothermia set in while she decided to walk for help.
 
This is such a tragic event. R.I.P Mum and little one. The ladies husband and family are in my prayers they must be devastated. Hopefully they will get to the bottom of what happened.
 
A friend's facebook post about it leads me to believe the accident did occur the night before. I would guess her husband did realize she was missing; it's just surprising a missing mom/baby story didn't hit the news prior to them being found :(.
 
Wondering the same thing about the last time husband saw her and if she was reported missing. I don't think the baby was naked.....

Did she have a cell phone?

If she was carrying the baby in a car seat, it would be pretty difficult to undress yourself while walking and carrying a baby in a carseat. Unless she periodically stopped to remove more articles of clothing.

If she didn't have a cell phone, or couldn't find it, I think she probably had the accident the night before (maybe avoiding a deer), car broke down so no heat, and then hypothermia set in while she decided to walk for help.

BBM

Yes, sure would be strange if the baby was naked, too. The title of this thread and the title of the DailyMail article seem to indicate, to me, that both were naked. However, when you read the article it says that the mom was found naked on top of the baby (and doesn't mention the baby's state of dress).

So sad!
 
We have had cases like this before (minus the baby) where a woman walked away from a crash.
Head injury that may not be visible, or the cold, or intoxication were generally the cause.
The autopsy will likely reveal what happened here... I hope they did not suffer. :twocents:
 
I am baffled how the car ended up in the trees. At night time surely headlights would give you enough warning to throw the breaks on. And it looks like she would have either just turned on the road or headed away from the road. Was it foggy that night? What was she doing driving down that dirt road, was she lost, maybe went to turn around. I wonder what is down that road. My lights suck on my car. I always think about the two women who turned the wrong way and ended up in the ocean :( So it is quite possible to not see ahead. I don't know it just looks a like a strange accident to me, if you look at the pictures of it. I think she might of woken after being knocked out and died of hypothermia after stripping down. I read the baby was naked to on a few news sites. So very sad. I can't for the life of me find the field on the map, if anyone finds it, please post it.
 
http://www.khou.com/story/news/loca...-child-recalled-as-talented-teacher/21853623/

A co-worker said Lindsay Gardner was just 22 years old when she painted an incredible mural in the Children's Ministry Center of the Travis Avenue Baptist Church. "We use that mural to announce our new births within the church family," said Celeste Albaugh, the church's minister to preschool...

The news has knocked the wind out of Albaugh and the entire Travis Avenue Baptist community. Lindsay was a long-time teacher there. Hailey was in daycare at the church, too...

It could be two more months before we know exactly how the mother and daughter died. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office has ordered more tests.
 
I can't for the life of me find the field on the map, if anyone finds it, please post it.

I think I found it. If you look the the pics at this link, there's one that shows a green metal gate in the foreground, the crashed car against the trees in the background. Note also a number of yellow poles stuck in the ground:

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/loca...found-dead-near-fort-worth-accident/21709833/

Okay, so if you go to Google street view at 6654 Altamesa Blvd, there's the green gate, and the yellow poles off to the right. The car was found crashed into the trees just beyond, I think.
 
In this article, her friend describes calling the husband looking for her after she didn't show up for work. It was then she was told she wasn't there or at her mom's. When did the husband realize this? Was she reported missing? Where was she that night?

Article also says they shared a cell phone. Wonder if she didn't have it with her, although if she was driving at night with a baby, that's hard for me to imagine.

Does hypothermia NOT show up in an autopsy? Anyone know?

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article6727884.html
 
In this article, her friend describes calling the husband looking for her after she didn't show up for work. It was then she was told she wasn't there or at her mom's. When did the husband realize this? Was she reported missing? Where was she that night?

Article also says they shared a cell phone. Wonder if she didn't have it with her, although if she was driving at night with a baby, that's hard for me to imagine.

Does hypothermia NOT show up in an autopsy? Anyone know?

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article6727884.html

BBM

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00414-014-0977-1#page-1

The identification of hypothermia as the cause of death has always been somewhat problematic in forensic pathology because of unspecific, inconsistent, or even negative macroscopic and microscopic findings.

I'm very curious when it was realized she and the baby were missing.
 
Tragic, certainly. But something odd about this.
 
I agree EmiLove832

Is it definite that she was not reported missing until her workmates missed her?

If she was not reported missing and would usually have been at home overnight and then getting herself and baby ready to go off to work and nursery in the morning, then that seems really strange and frankly inexplicable

Where on earth did her husband think she was and why would her absence not have been a cause for concern? Wouldn't it have been natural to phone round family, friends and all the places she might have been to check she was OK?

Was she in the habit of disappearing with the baby overnight without saying where she was going? That would seem totally out of character if the picture of her in the news reports was accurate and there is no reason to think it was not.

I suppose they may have argued about something causing her to grab baby and go and therefore making hubby less likely to raise the alarm.

Of course if she had unknowingly ingested something which would affect her ability to drive safely and think coherently, then that might explain how she drove across a field without realising she was no longer on the track and then into some trees.

Maybe it is a case of not all the details having been made public, but on the face of it the whole thing seems a little more unsettling than just an unfortunate and tragic accident.
 
This is very concerning. I have just finished reading two books, one about Gary Ridgeway, and the other about Roger Kibbe. It's just hard for me not to at least wonder and be concerned that they met with foul play. Roger Kibbe, would sometimes cause accidents or drive up and down I5 in California looking for women in cars in distress. I'm leaning more towards this just being an accident, but I hope the investigators carefully look at all the possibilities, simply because it's so weird.
 

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