On a sweltering July afternoon in 2016, what began as a routine day in Keene, New Hampshire, turned into a surreal scene that would make headlines across the country. Police Lieutenant Jason Short was racing through the parking lot of a local Walmart after receiving a frantic 911 call — a baby, witnesses said, was locked inside a parked car under the blistering summer sun.
The situation sounded dire. Temperatures had soared past 90 degrees, and shoppers had spotted what looked like tiny feet sticking out from beneath a blanket. To any trained first responder, those details spelled one thing — a child in immediate danger.