A young Florida mom and her baby died after their Jeep sank in a mud pit during an off-roading expedition late Saturday in a swampy patch of woods near Disney World in Orlando, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Hallie Lewis, 22, and little Brason Brown, 1, likely died from carbon monoxide poisoning after clumps of mud clogged up the vehicle’s exhaust system, Sgt. Kim Montes, an FHP spokeswoman in Orlando, told the Daily News.
The two were passengers when the truck got stuck off World Center Drive near S. International Drive around 10:45 p.m. Saturday. Taylor Brown, the 21-year-old driver, went off to get a second car to pluck the Jeep from the muck and realized after a time that his girlfriend and child were unresponsive inside the vehicle.
Mud was up to the door handles on the Jeep and Brown had to leave the truck through a back window, which flips up, Montes said. He went in the same way once he realized his girlfriend was unresponsive, she said.
The evening was cool and Brown left the Jeep running, with the windows rolled up and the exhaust pipe unknowingly covered, to heat the car.
“He thought (Lewis) was sleeping but realized she was unresponsive when he called out to her and she didn’t respond,†Montes said. “He’s been totally cooperative. Obviously, he’s distraught, but we’re working on a timeline to figure out how long they were inside the car.â€
Once Brown got his girlfriend and infant from the vehicle, he and a friend drove them the five miles back to a main road to a fire department, which took the two sickened passengers to the hospital.
Lewis was pronounced dead, while little Brason was taken in critical condition to Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital where he died later Sunday afternoon.
Police are still investigating the fatal wreck, which happened just east of a Disney World entrance. Montes said carbon monoxide poisoning is a likely cause, but the department is waiting on the medical examiner’s office and a toxicology report for confirmation.
The area is popular for “mudders,†Montes said. But the muck was so thick that troopers could not use a tow truck and instead needed a front end loader to pull the truck out of the pit. Brown accidentally ripped off the Jeep’s bumper when trying to winch it out using a second Jeep, Montes said.
