The devastated father of two-year-old Oklahoma twins who were found dead in the backseat of a hot car has broken his silence after cruel rumours about their deaths circulated online.
Avery and Ariel were found unresponsive in the backseat of a family vehicle around 3 p.m. Thursday in the Norman neighborhood, where temperatures reached the 90s outside.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, father Marshall Suter revealed he was at work when an officer contacted him with the tragic news that his young daughters were missing.
“I didn’t know anything until 11:15 p.m. on September 5, when the police told me in person that they had died. Since then, my heart has been in shambles.”
Marshall Suter, the devastated father of two-year-old Oklahoma twins Ariel and Avery who were found dead in the backseat of the family’s hot car, has paid tribute to his young daughters.
Twins Ariel and Avery were found dead inside a hot car around 3 p.m. Thursday in Norman, Oklahoma.
A relative was supposed to take the girls to daycare, but they ended up abandoned in the back of the car for most of the day.
It was an unnamed relative who had started driving the white car, before turning around and realizing that the twins had died in the back seat.
The relative was supposed to drop the children off at daycare, but forgot to do so. By the time they were found, it was too late.
Officers pronounced the children dead at the scene after being called to check on them. Police are still investigating how or why they were left in the burning car.
On Sunday night, Suter paid tribute to the twins who were born in 2022, describing them as the “brightest and best twins the world could ever have” with a love that was “the purest” she had ever experienced.
“Everyone in the family loved them very much. They did everything together,” Suter told DailyMail.com.
‘From the hugs to the kisses to the laughter. Their love was the purest I’d ever felt. And I can never feel it again. Mommy and Daddy love their girls.
“No day will be the same. Our hearts are broken. Losing a child may have been the hardest thing that’s ever happened to me, and I lost two. I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again,” Suter said, heartbroken.
“From the hugs to the kisses to the laughter. Their love was the purest I’ve ever felt. And I can never feel it again. Mom and Dad love their girls,” Suter said in tribute.
Officers quickly located the vehicle (pictured) and pronounced the girls dead at the scene. Police are still investigating why they were left in the burning car.
A wreath has been placed near McKinley Elementary School in Norman, Oklahoma.
Police are not recommending any charges be filed in the deaths at this time and say the family is cooperating with the investigation.
“We would have had to have determined that there was probable cause indicating willful negligence that directly linked them to the deaths of those children, and at this point, the investigation just shows us that it’s much more of an accident,” said Sarah Schettler of the Normal Police Department. Number 5.
Police believe the children had been in the car all day, but the timeline of events remains vague.
“This is truly tragic and has been very hard on the family involved, especially in regards to the hateful comments. I hope this at least shows people that it was not intentional and truly an accident. This family simply wishes for some peace in this difficult and heavy time,” said a family member. Air Force.
Katherine Dawson, mother of Ariel and Avery, also took to social media on Saturday to report on their tragic deaths.
‘I know that right now a lot of people want to reach out and be there for us. Both Marshall and I are going through difficult times that we can’t imagine. We ask that you respect the fact that we need some space right now while we process the situation and grieve.
“If you need to reach out to us, we have a lot of family members on both sides who can get in touch with us,” Katherine said.
Suter and Dawson, who share four children together including Ariel and Avery, often post loving photos of their kids on social media to mark birthdays and holidays.
Neighbor Andrew Kabara said cars are often parked on the street because many parents drop off their students at McKinley Elementary School or the University of Oklahoma, a couple of blocks from where the toddlers were found.
“We pay attention to most of them,” Kabara said. The Oklahoman.
“This is a very close-knit neighborhood and we want to know who’s coming through here and all that, but we never thought about anything like that,” he added.
The day the girls were discovered, Kabara said she became concerned after seeing several cars parked across the street.
‘We feel for the children who died, their parents and the rest of their family.
“We can’t imagine it. After hearing it (Friday) morning, our hearts broke to think that it was just two little kids living across the street.
“It broke our hearts. We can’t believe something like this happened so close. It’s a shame,” Kabara said, adding that their deaths were “a tragic mistake.”
Flowers have been placed on the lawn near where Ariel and Avery were found. The medical examiner is expected to announce the cause of death in the coming weeks.
TO GoFundMe Page It was created by Kourtnee Usey, the cousin of Marshall Suter, the girls’ father.
“All funds will be used to give these precious babies the funeral they deserve and take a weight off this father’s shoulders after dealing with such a tragic and HEARTBREAKING loss,” Kourtnee wrote.
“No one truly knows the pain of losing a child until they experience it.”
As of Sunday evening, the page had raised more than $4,000.
The twins are seen with their mother Katherine Dawson (right) and their other siblings in December 2023.
Police are not recommending filing charges at this time and said the family is cooperating with the investigation. A child’s car seat can be seen on the side of the road.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the Norman Police Department. The horrific incident marks the first heat-related child death in the state this year.
A three-year-old boy was found dead inside a burning van on August 13 after his father abandoned him to go shopping.
The boy died inside a pickup truck in a supermarket parking lot in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, when his father stopped there after work.
The Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office is treating the death as a heat-related incident.
Temperatures in Vicksburg, a town in Kalamazoo County where the death occurred, reached the 80s that day.