When mom Stephanie Martinez walked up to Plantation KinderCare Learning Center in Plantation, Florida, to pick up her daughter on Feb. 15, something was wrong.
Martinez was running about 15 minutes late and the day care closes at 6 p.m., but as police later pointed out, “they stay open for parents who regularly pick up their children late,” according to WPLG-TV.
The mom hadn’t received a call or notification, but when she arrived at the day care, the lights had been turned off and the place was locked up.
First, Martinez called Samantha Scaramellino, a close friend, to see if maybe she’d picked up her daughter or gotten a call. But she hadn’t.
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According to a post by Scaramellino on Facebook, Scaramellino quickly advised Martinez to check the building and make some noise.
“I started knocking,” Martinez told WPLG. “I banged on every window. I couldn’t see anything, everything was dark. And then finally, I heard her and she [appeared in] the little window, on the little door, and I lost it.”
There, inside the darkened building, standing on a chair so she could peek through the glass panel on the door, was her daughter, 2-year-old Anastasia Brathwaite.
Martinez was understandably distraught and called 911 immediately. Even the operator sounded surprised when Martinez described the situation. Soon, help was on the way.
Plantation Fire and Rescue arrived and were able to pry the door open and reunite mother and daughter. Now, Martinez is planning to file a lawsuit against the company.
How did this even happen in the first place?
Police say assistant director Nichole Burrillo and a teacher, Lucilena Viggiano, locked the doors that evening and left the school at 6:20, according to an incident report.
Burrillo said Viggiano was in charge of checking roll and making sure all the kids were picked up. Then she said they both checked the building, locked up and left.
Eight minutes later, Martinez…
