Officer Breaks Into Hot Car To Rescue ‘Baby’, Then Realizes He Made A Huge Mistake

Note: This story was originally reported in August 2016 and is being republished due to its unusual nature and the lessons it highlights.

In July 2016, a New Hampshire police officer rushed to what seemed like a life-or-death emergency in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Keene. The report was alarming: a baby had been left locked inside a parked car on a hot summer day. Concerned shoppers had spotted what appeared to be small feet sticking out from under a blanket and immediately called authorities.

Keene Police Lt. Jason Short was one of the first to respond to the scene on July 23. With temperatures high and the sun beating down on the vehicle, Short wasted no time making a decision. He later explained that from his perspective, the situation was urgent—every second mattered if a child’s life was at stake.

Peering through the window, Short saw what looked unmistakably like the legs of a small infant. Believing the child could be in danger of heatstroke or suffocation, he smashed the car window to begin a rescue. Pulling away the blanket, he prepared to lift the baby out and provide medical attention.

But as soon as Short looked closer, his heart sank. The infant’s skin felt unusual, and the baby was not moving. For a split second, he believed he had discovered a child who had already passed away inside the vehicle. Acting quickly, he attempted to breathe air into its mouth—only to realize the mouth would not open. In that instant, the truth became clear: this was not a baby at all, but a lifelike doll.

The doll, crafted with remarkable realism, was part of what are known as “reborn dolls”—hyper-realistic figures collected by enthusiasts around the world. These dolls are designed to mimic the weight, texture, and even the appearance of a newborn baby. For Lt. Short, the resemblance was so convincing that even up close, he initially thought he was holding a real child.

After recognizing the situation, Short immediately canceled the ambulance request. While relieved that no baby had been harmed, the officer admitted that the incident had been both startling and emotionally taxing. He explained that in the moment, all he could think about was saving a child’s life.

The doll’s owner, it was later revealed, was a local woman who collects reborn dolls and had left it in the car while she shopped. She reportedly purchased the doll for several hundred dollars and considered it part of her personal collection. While she was upset about the broken window, she also acknowledged that the doll was realistic enough to confuse passersby and cause concern.

The unusual rescue attempt made headlines across the country and sparked conversations about two important issues: the risks of leaving children unattended in hot vehicles, and the growing popularity of lifelike dolls. Child safety advocates emphasized that, even though this case turned out to be a false alarm, real incidents of children dying in overheated cars are tragically common in the U.S. every summer.

As for the police, officials supported Lt. Short’s quick decision. They stressed that when an officer is faced with a possible child in danger, there is no time to hesitate or second-guess appearances. Breaking the window was the right choice under the circumstances.

What began as a dramatic emergency ended as a strange story about mistaken identity, but it also carried an important reminder: when lives are at risk, taking immediate action is always the safest course.

When Short found the owner of the doll, Carolynne Seiffert, who was getting her hair cut in Super Cuts during the incident, she told the officer that it was designed to look as much as a real baby as possible. Short said the doll even felt like a real baby when he picked it up.

Seiffert had purchased the doll, named Ainslie from a doll nursery for $2,300 the week before the incident, according to Sentinel Source. The doll, called a “reborn” doll, is handcrafted from silicone so it looks as realistic as possible. Seiffert has a collection of reborn dolls.

She says she plans to put a sticker on her car to alert others that the babies inside the car are not real.