COMING UP HERE SHORTLY. ALL RIGHT. WE’LL SEE YOU IN A BIT. THANKS. AN IOWA MOM IS FACING CHARGES IN NEBRASKA AFTER HER CHILDREN WERE FOUND ALONE IN A LOCKED CAR. INVESTIGATORS SAY 37 YEAR OLD TONYA KNUTSON OF MISSOURI VALLEY LEFT THEM INSIDE TO DELIVER ONLINE GROCERY ORDERS IN BLAIR, NEBRASKA. EMPLOYEES AT A NEARBY BUSINESS FOUND A THREE YEAR OLD AND 16 MONTH OLD CRYING AND SCREAMING IN THAT CAR THAT WAS IN AN APARTMENT BUILDING PARKING LOT. THE CAR’S ENGINE WAS NOT ON. THE KIDS WERE TAKEN TO A NEARBY HOSPITAL AND TREATED FOR HEAT EXPOSURE. THE TEMPERATURE INSIDE THE CAR WAS TEST
Nebraska police arrest Iowa mother after 3-year-old, 16-month-old rescued from hot car
Police said the temperature inside the vehicle was over 120 degrees.
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Updated: 11:05 PM CDT Aug 21, 2025
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Blair, Nebraska, police arrested an Iowa mother Thursday, after two children were rescued from a hot car. Officers said the children were found in an unattended car at the Dana Village Apartments on Angels Share Drive.Blair police said employees at a nearby business heard children screaming and called 911. A Washington County Sheriff's sergeant, who was nearby, found a 3-year-old and a 16-month-old child crying and screaming inside the locked car. Blair police said the vehicle was not running, and the kids were secured in car seats. Blair Fire Rescue used a thermal heat detector and found the temperature inside the vehicle to be over 120 degrees. The two children were taken to Memorial Community Hospital in Blair for heat exposure. They were treated and released to family members under the supervision of Nebraska HHS Child Protective Services.Police said an investigation found that the mother, 37-year-old Tanya Knudsen, of Missouri Valley, Iowa, left the children inside the vehicle to deliver online grocery orders. They said witnesses and surveillance camera video confirmed the young kids were left on their own for 25 minutes.Officers booked Knudsen into the Washington County Jail for felony child abuse.
BLAIR, Neb. — Blair, Nebraska, police arrested an Iowa mother Thursday, after two children were rescued from a hot car. Officers said the children were found in an unattended car at the Dana Village Apartments on Angels Share Drive.
Blair police said employees at a nearby business heard children screaming and called 911. A Washington County Sheriff's sergeant, who was nearby, found a 3-year-old and a 16-month-old child crying and screaming inside the locked car. Blair police said the vehicle was not running, and the kids were secured in car seats.
Blair Fire Rescue used a thermal heat detector and found the temperature inside the vehicle to be over 120 degrees. The two children were taken to Memorial Community Hospital in Blair for heat exposure. They were treated and released to family members under the supervision of Nebraska HHS Child Protective Services.
Police said an investigation found that the mother, 37-year-old Tanya Knudsen, of Missouri Valley, Iowa, left the children inside the vehicle to deliver online grocery orders. They said witnesses and surveillance camera video confirmed the young kids were left on their own for 25 minutes.
Officers booked Knudsen into the Washington County Jail for felony child abuse.
