An Oklahoma father who was accused of the deaths of his young son and daughter after they spent 5 hours in a hot truck has been released after surveillance footage showed that the children climbed into the truck on their own.
Dustin Dennis, 31, was released after investigators reviewed a neighbour’s surveillance camera footage that showed his four-year-old daughter Tegan and three-year-old son Ryan getting into the truck but not coming out.
No formal charges have been filed, but Dennis was arrested on Saturday on two second-degree murder warrants.
Dennis explained to police that he took his children to a QuikTrip store around noon and he went inside and fell asleep for four or five hours.
He then told police that after waking up, he was unable to find his children and had found the pair on the floorboard of the truck.
He quickly called 911 and moved the children into the living room of the family home before paramedics arrived and pronounced the children dead.
“Video surveillance footage from a neighbour’s home confirmed that the children managed to get into the truck and tragically never got out,” the Tulsa District Attorney's Office said on Monday.
“It is always important to note that our Constitution guarantees the presumption of innocence for any person accused of or arrested for a crime,” the DA statement added.
“That presumption of innocence remains until and unless a judge or jury determines otherwise.”
Tragically, Dennis had posted a sweet Facebook status explaining his love for his children a few days before the accident.
“2 in the morning up watching my kids sleep, I can’t believe they’re mine, I love them so much and nobody in this world could ever make me feel as loved as they do. The other day I was so depressed because I just missed them, and I got to thinking of when they get older and become adults,” he wrote.
“If you don’t have kids you may not understand this but that is the scariest but most amazing thing to think of, watching them become their own person and seeing what they will experience and achieve.
He added: “I hope our bond only grows stronger, I hope they always want to call me or see me just to talk or ask for advice. I can’t imagine this world without them.”
Photo credits: Daily Mail
This article originally appeared on Over60.