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New Ulm, Minn.

2-year-old New Ulm boy dies after being found outside

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(AP) - A 2-year-old New Ulm boy died after wandering outside his home on a frigid night while his mother slept.

Dara Lenz found the lifeless body of her son, Lucas Boldt, Wednesday morning in a snowbank about 10 to 20 feet from her home.

"I woke up into a nightmare," a grieving Lenz told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis on Wednesday from her mother's home. "This is nothing you want to wake up to. ... It's just not fair. ... I found my baby in a snowbank. ... He was my pride and joy. It's just not fair."

Police responded to a call to the home in the 1100 block of North Jefferson Street around 7:45 a.m. Wednesday and found Lucas unconscious inside the house. They performed CPR on the child, who was later pronounced dead at the New Ulm Medical Center.

According to the National Weather Service, the temperature in New Ulm was minus-9 around 7 a.m.

Lenz, 26, told the paper she put Lucas to bed about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. That was later than usual because he was still energized by the holidays, she said.

They went to bed together, but when Lenz woke up, Lucas was no longer next to her. She hoped to find him in his room, but he wasn't there.

She raced outside and found him in the snow.

"I don't know how it happened," she said. "He's never wandered away before."

Lenz pleaded with other parents to put childproof locks on their doors. "You have to put everything you can on the doors if you live in Minnesota," she said. She declined to say whether her doors had been locked.

Police didn't know how long Lucas had been exposed to the freezing temperatures, and Cmdr. Myron Weiland said police didn't suspect foul play.

On Thursday, Weiland declined to disclose how the child got out of the house, saying the matter was still under investigation.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)