A driver fatally struck a 4-year-old boy when he wandered out alone at night and walked onto a highway in Indiana, officials said.
Braxton Freeze of Princeton, Ind., was staying with his mother and her boyfriend at a nearby business when he slipped away while the adults were asleep Monday, the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
“The younger they are, the harder it hits,” WCSO Chief Deputy Paul Kruse told local station WFIE about the death of the young boy. “Especially if you have kids of your own.”
The unidentified driver fatally struck the boy at around 4 a.m. early Monday morning on State Road 66 near Lincoln Avenue.
Officials said the driver called 911 upon hitting the boy, and attempted to perform CPR, WFIE reported, but the tot was pronounced dead at the scene.
The sheriff’s office believes that no drugs or alcohol were involved, and no charges have been made against the driver.
It’s unclear how Freeze escaped or when his mother realized he was missing, but WCSO Sheriff Michael Wilder told WFIE she couldn’t find him when she woke up.
No arrests have been made, and an investigation is ongoing.
