A Kentucky family was left facing an unimaginable loss after a 10-month-old girl was discovered inside a car hours after she was supposed to have been dropped off at daycare.
Scottie Gwyn Crowell had been in the care of her grandmother, Dr. Stacey Fazenbaker, on Aug. 13. Fazenbaker had agreed to take the baby to daycare before heading to work at Owensboro Health Multicare in Madisonville.
But Scottie never made it to daycare.
The discovery came later that afternoon, when Scottie’s father arrived around 4 p.m. to pick her up. Daycare workers told him the baby had not been there that day, according to the Daily Mail.
That prompted the family to piece together what had happened. Fazenbaker had driven to work that morning without realizing Scottie was still in the vehicle.
The baby was eventually found strapped into her car seat in the back of the vehicle, which had been parked outside the medical clinic.
By then, roughly eight hours had passed.
Baby died in hot car
Fazenbaker, 61, realized what had happened and hurried outside with several co-workers to retrieve her granddaughter.
Fazenbaker “ran outside with some co-workers to get the child. But it was far too late by then,” Madisonville Police Major Jason McKnight told reporters, according to the New York Post.
Officers attempted to save Scottie after she was removed from the car, but the efforts were unsuccessful.
“The grandmother had already got the child, and so the officers tried some lifesaving measures, but unfortunately it was too late for that.”
The conditions inside the vehicle had become deadly. Temperatures in Madisonville reached 95 degrees that day, while the temperature inside the car climbed as high as 115 degrees, WEHT reported.
Police have not filed charges against Fazenbaker at this point. Investigators are continuing to examine the circumstances surrounding Scottie’s death and have also tested her for drugs and alcohol. Authorities do not expect those tests to produce positive results.
Charges could still be considered while the investigation progresses.
“As the picture becomes clearer on how this could have possibly happened, there is a possibility charges are sought before the grand jury convenes,” McKnight said.
“Our sweet baby girl”
Fazenbaker had moved to Madisonville about a year earlier, according to the Daily Mail, with the intention of being closer to her daughter, 33-year-old Sydni Crowell.
Sydni is also a doctor and works as a local OB-GYN. She began working at Baptist Health Deaconess in Madison in February 2025.
Scottie was the second child of her parents and was born on Sept. 20, 2025, according to the outlet.
Her family has since paid tribute to the little girl.
“We love you so much, our sweet baby girl,” Scottie’s aunt Emmy Fazenbaker wrote in a Facebook tribute.
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