# Most depressing news story of the new year. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 7, 2011, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723 "2011-01-07T06:30:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723/1 "2011-01-07T06:30:27Z")
Pretty much speechless here. Headline: “Lafayette girl called father 19 times before carbon-monoxide deaths.” Story: [Father told police Nicole Clark, 9, may have been trying to help her mother when both died.](http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_17021790) More awful shit happens in the weeks following the holidays than in the rest of the year. Sorry for sharing, i just can’t stop crying. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723/2 "2011-01-07T08:54:34Z")
Kid was 9 and didn’t or couldn’t open the garage door? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723/3 "2011-01-07T12:31:39Z")
I’m also kinda curious about the limited wherewithal of the 9 year-old - she could repeatedly call her father but not 911? Of course, we’ll never know. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723/4 "2011-01-07T14:25:14Z")
That kinda reminds me of the story of [Matthew Rotell](http://www.sptimes.com/News/041600/Floridian/The_lost_boys.shtml) in the Tampa Bay area from a decade ago, a murder/suicide involving kids. But maybe in this case it was just drunken stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723/5 "2011-01-07T14:44:26Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I’m also kinda curious about the limited wherewithal of the 9 year-old - she could repeatedly call her father but not 911? Of course, we’ll never know. My daughter was 12 and at the movies with a friend by themselves for the first time. She got really scared by the movie and wanted to go home and was frantically leaving us multiple messages, crying, just saying she wanted to go home. As I was racing to the movie theater I was calling her back, picturing the worst. She never picked up. It turns out she was turning her phone off after every call. She was getting more and more panicked not reaching us, but made it impossible for us to reach her. Kids have really poor judgment skills at young ages (and 9 is young) and it can be even worse when they are panicking. Who knows what was going on in that car, with the drunk, alcoholic mother. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723/6 "2011-01-07T15:06:19Z")
My oldest niece is 7, with shoulder length white-blonde hair and a beautiful smile. Just like little Nicole’s in the picture. So very, very sad. I need to go to my sister’s this weekend to hug my niece. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723/7 "2011-01-07T15:11:41Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > It turns out she was turning her phone off after every call. Well, she _was_ at the movies. That’s just simple politeness. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723/8 "2011-01-07T16:34:27Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I’m also kinda curious about the limited wherewithal of the 9 year-old - she could repeatedly call her father but not 911? Of course, we’ll never know. She probably didn’t recognize that she was in a life-threatening situation. Mommy’s passed out drunk, who do ya call? Dad, not 911. Poor kid. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723/9 "2011-01-07T16:36:24Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, she _was_ at the movies. That’s just simple politeness. She was in the bathroom crying. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723/10 "2011-01-07T16:41:49Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > She probably didn’t recognize that she was in a life-threatening situation. Mommy’s passed out drunk, who do ya call? Dad, not 911. > > Poor kid. Yeah. I’d bet any amount of money that the 9-year old had no knowledge of CO poisoning and was completely unaware that she was in any danger. She was just worried about her mom. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723/11 "2011-01-07T18:26:20Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I’m also kinda curious about the limited wherewithal of the 9 year-old - she could repeatedly call her father but not 911? Of course, we’ll never know. **IvoryTowerDenizen** has already touched on how panic can affect a kid’s judgment. The other factor is the carbon monoxide itself, which causes mental impairment. I recall reading of one case where a guy knew he was suffering from CO poisoning and had to get out of his house, but when he got to the front door he had a great deal of difficulty remembering how to operate the doorknob. It’s entirely possible that the girl was already suffering mental impairment due to CO intoxication at the time of the calls, and may not have realized she needed to get out of the garage, or may not have even been able to understand _how_ to get out of the garage. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723/12 "2011-01-07T19:21:28Z")
My grandfather died of a heart attack at his home - rather than calling 911, he kept calling my mom (who NEVER leaves her cell phone on). I was taught to use 911 from kindergarten, so I’m sure in both cases, they were aware of the number, so I don’t know what they were thinking by not calling 911. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-news-story-of-the-new-year/566723/13 "2011-01-07T20:01:33Z")
Anyone else think it was a murder/suicide? It’d be easy to tell the little girl not to open the door or else she’ll get in trouble.