Police in Jacksonville, Florida are investigating the death of two four-year-old twins who allegedly died after a toy chest lid shut on them while they were sleeping.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office told CTVNews.ca on Saturday they found the two children unresponsive at a Jacksonville home on Aug. 25.
In a Facebook post, Sadie Myers, the twins’ mother, recounts how she and her family found the twins “snuggled up” head to toe inside the cedar toy chest.
“I ran in to check and within a few seconds I knew something wasn’t right, but I also quickly realized it was already too late,” she wrote on the online post published on Sunday.
In the post, she wrote how the twins must have woken up in the middle of the night to play, as they often did, and fell asleep “in some weird place” in their room – this time choosing the toy chest where the family stored stuffed animals.
Myers speculated one of the twins must have moved or kicked during the night and it caused the lid of the old wooden cedar chest to close, she wrote.
“Something I did not know and I’m sure many others don’t know is that most wooden toy chests once closed are AIR TIGHT and also sound proof,” read the post.
Speaking with First Coast News, Myers identified the twins, the youngest of her four children, as Aurora and Kellan Starr.
“Not many will know the pain of losing two children at the same time and losing them in a way that makes no sense,” read Myers’ post. “But I have to believe that something in this universe chose them specifically, maybe to protect them from some future tragedy, or maybe because their souls were too perfect for this world.”
Later in her Facebook post, Myers said she and her husband, Don Starr, are trying to not spend every second “crying in agony” as they are also trying to stay present for their older sons.
She also warned other parents about owning similar toy structures.
“I hope if you have a toy box like this that you destroy it immediately!!!” read the post.
The family of the twins has declined to speak with CTVNews.ca at this time.
