Toddler Dies After Climbing Into Dishwasher

[Rhino]

Cops: Toddler Dies After Climbing Into Dishwasher, Starting Cycle

Friday, June 01, 2007

ROMANCE, Ark. — An 18-month-old boy died Wednesday of suspected heat exposure after he climbed into a dishwasher that started running, police said.

Authorities are still investigating, but said it appeared the boy's death was accidental.

"This is probably the hardest, most emotional scene that these investigators will ever work," said Chief Deputy Jeremy Clark of the White County sheriff's office.

Blake Kurck was found dead in his home near the White County town of Romance at about 1 p.m. Wednesday, the sheriff's office said. The boy's 13-year-old brother found him inside the appliance, which was running, authorities said.....http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,276972,00.html

[Patriot Heart]

Somebody check out the 13 yr old. Dishwashers are not refrigerators. They do not close themselves and are actually hard to shut, or else use an external knob. How sad.

[Rhino]

Somebody check out the 13 yr old. Dishwashers are not refrigerators. They do not close themselves and are actually hard to shut, or else use an external knob. How sad.Investigators said the dishwasher was a Maytag model that automatically started when the door closed.Seems like a strange design. I don't see how they could have it this way. It would start every time you close the door.

[DeclinetoState]

On our dishwasher, the door opens down, and closes up. How did the baby pull the door up to close it?

[dPrasse]

Somethings not right , IMO ... the dishwashers I have been around need to be almost slammed shut ... how on earth could an 18 mo old move around inside the dishwasher racks enough to get a door shut ??

Very sad story , but it doesn't sound "accidental" ...

although , in Arkansas , lots of "accidents" happen ... did the family know the Clintons ?

[Rhino]

On our dishwasher, the door opens down, and closes up. How did the baby pull the door up to close it?Ours is spring loaded. Give it a little tug and it will slam shut.

[MrsJacks]

Authorities are still investigating, but said it appeared the boy's death was accidental.


My baloney has a first name...

Yeah, this doesn't seem like an accident at all. It reeks of foul play. I've had Maytag appliances in the recent past and they are so loaded up with all the bells and whistles and safety features that there is no earthly way this situation could happen. I don't know how their dishwashers are set up, but my washer and dryer could only be started from the outside. You had to shut the door on them, push the power button and wait for it to lock before it would start a load. Basically, you couldn't push some buttons to set up a load and then climb in and have it start the load automatically if you were to shut it from the inside.

Our dishwasher is spring loaded, but there is still no way a baby could close it from the inside. Not to mention, there isn't even enough room to stick a cat in ours, let alone a toddler. In theory, if this is an accident, wouldn't someone have heard that baby screaming when the load started? Wouldn't someone have heard the baby screaming as the racks dug into his skin? I mean, I just have a difficult time believing that this was some fluke accident. It reminds me a lot of the Campbell's soup scenario. Someone could make a buttload off of Maytag in a lawsuit claiming their dishwashers can kill babies. Either that or the little boy was crying about something and either dad or big bro beat him unconscious and then tossed him in the dishwasher to make it look like an accident.

[Rhino]

I've seen little kids climb into dishwashers before, and it would be difficult to hear them if it was running. I doubt this story, however. Something doesn't seem right.

[Rhino]

Okay, other reports say it will start automatically if certain buttons are pushed before you close it. That sounds a bit more plausible. I had a dishwasher once that would allow you to set the wash cycle without the door being closed.

http://www.fox16.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=2929df83-c6c9-45bc-b033-4d7975c21bcd

[M.C.]

If indeed it does start when you close it, fact is the boy had to go in the dishwasher and close it.....that seems a bit hard to do from the inside. Someone else had to close it, this doesn't look like an accident, that kid can't be crafty enough to set the buttons, climb in, and shut the door from the inside.

[Rhino]

Depends on the dishwasher. Mine would be extremely easy to close from the inside, but it doesn't start automatically. As far as setting the buttons goes, the kid could have done that quite by accident. We used to preset our old dishwasher so the kids could run it when we weren't there. That way all they had to do was latch the door, and it would run. They never could remember how to set it.