The wife of a Miami police officer was found dead in her husband’s SUV after getting locked in the back seat.
Investigators reportedly believe Clara Paulino,56, became trapped in her husband’s Ford Explorer SUV while searching for something.
Sources said Paulino climbed inside the SUV sometime after 1 p.m. and a partition separating the front and back seats stopped her from accessing the horn.
Matthew Reyes, vice president of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police says that officer Aristides Paulino works nights, and returned home from his shift and went to sleep around noon. When he awoke around 5 p.m., he found his wife’s cell phone on the back patio, but was unable to find her, Reyes says.
“When he woke up he was looking for his wife. His son began to help as well, and him and his son — the son, initially — ended up finding her in the back seat of his police car for, at this time, reasons unknown,” he says. “He went to sleep around noon, woke up at 5 p.m., so somewhere in between there, for whatever reason, she ended up in there.”
Reyes says Paulino and his son rendered first aid and CPR “to the best of their ability,” but Clara was pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital.
Reyes also explained that the police SUV has bars on the windows and its doors can be only opened from the outside.
