Mom, 31, found dead with two toddler kids in SUV ‘likely overdosed before children died from heatstroke’
POLICE believe the Texas woman found dead in her car along with the bodies of her two young daughters likely died of a drug overdose – and her two kids died of heatstroke after being left in the car for more than a day.
Natalie Chambers, 31, and her two daughters, Izabel, 4, and Elise, 2, were found Thursday morning inside a blue 2008 Ford Escape in Farmers Branch, Dallas, Texas.
Police said the mom and tots were last seen on Wednesday at 8AM as they headed out to a playdate in Grapevine, about a 45-minute drive from their home.
When Chambers failed to show up at the playdate, friends and family immediately began thinking the worst given Chambers’ history with drug and alcohol abuse and bouts of depression.
“Natalie had struggled in the past but had gotten some help and was an amazing mom,” an anonymous family member told InForney.
“Recently, during COVID she had become more depressed and had obviously relapsed.”
“We are all devastated that the girls had to witness such a tragedy and suffer themselves,” the relative said.
Doorbell footage shows Chambers and the two kids leaving their home at 8:06AM for the playdate.
Those are the last photos of the trio alive.
Since Chambers’ disappearance did not meet qualifications for an Amber alert, family and friends of Chambers began frantically searching for her truck along the route she should have taken starting Wednesday night.
Police were finally able to locate Chambers by pinging her cellphone, which they traced to the intersection of I-635 and Midway Road between the Dallas and Farmers Branch city limits.
“Our officers responded to the location, checked the area and actually located the vehicle in the 4300 block of LBJ freeway,” said Farmers Branch Police Department Officer Steve Rutherford during a press conference Thursday.
“Upon contacting the occupants of the vehicle, the officers observed there were three occupants inside the vehicle and the tragic discovery was made that all three occupants of the vehicle were deceased,” he continued.
Other officers told reporters the grisly scene was hard for them to process.
The heat Wednesday reached a sweltering 93 degrees.
Nearby surveillance video from a furniture store close to where Chambers was found shows her pull the Ford Escape into the parking lot, park and turn the engine off just after 9AM Wednesday. No one else was seen exiting or checking on the vehicle until police arrived over 24 hours later.
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Chambers’ sister Jessica Purcell told CBS her family is hoping to remember Chambers and her two kids in a better light.
“Natalie was hilarious and charismatic and never met a stranger. She fiercely loved her girls and was an inspirational mother. I always used to tell her I’m glad she did it (motherhood) first so I can steal parenting tips from her,” the statement read.
“Izabel and Elise were happy and so very smart and witty. Izabel got that her mom’s sassiness and Elise got her humor. They were beautiful and perfect. Our hearts are completely shattered,” she ended.