3 Florida children die after climbing into an unplugged freezer

(CNN) — Three children who were playing outside climbed into an unplugged chest freezer and died after the lid closed and they were unable to get out, a sheriff in northern Florida said.

A woman who was with the children on Sunday had gone inside to use the restroom when the children disappeared at a home in Live Oak, Suwannee County sheriff’s officials said.

Two girls, age 1 and 4, and a 6-year-old boy got into the freezer.

The woman returned to the yard, could not locate the children, woke up another woman and they began to search the property and area, authorities said. They opened the freezer and began resuscitative efforts before calling 911. First responders were unable to resuscitate the children, either.

“Upon further inspection of the freezer, an after-market hasp had been installed on the lid in order to secure a padlock on it,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. “It is believed at this time, that when the children entered the freezer, and the lid closed, the hasp fell shut, trapping the children inside. There was no padlock on the freezer.”

Sheriff Sam St. John said on Monday that officials were awaiting autopsy results.

“I just think it’s a tragic accident. They left the freezer out there in the yard. It wasn’t cold or anything,” he said.

Officials said foul play was not suspected, though the case will be forwarded to a state attorney’s office for review. The Florida Department of Children and Families has been notified.

According to the sheriff, two of the children were siblings — the 1-year old girl and the 6-year old boy — and they were in the custody of their grandmother. The 4-year-old girl was the daughter of another woman.