Nebraska Fair Drama: Baby Saved from Hot Car as Mother Faces Child Abuse Charges

Dramatic Rescue at Nebraska County Fair

In a shock­ing inci­dent at the Mer­rick Coun­ty Fair­grounds on August 24, 2024, a 3‑month-old baby was left alone in a hot car while the moth­er alleged­ly went horse­back riding. 

The tem­per­a­ture out­side was around 90 degrees Fahren­heit when author­i­ties respond­ed to the dis­tress­ing call.

Hero on Horseback: Roper’s Quick Action Saves Infant

Edgar Estra­da, a rop­ing con­tes­tant at the fair, became an unlike­ly hero when he heard a baby’s cries. Mount­ing his horse, Estra­da searched the park­ing lot, weav­ing between vehi­cles until he locat­ed the dis­tressed infant.

After about 10 min­utes, he man­aged to pry open the car win­dow and res­cue the baby.

“I instant­ly got on the horse and ran up and down the park­ing lot area where the vehi­cles were at, and I was just weav­ing in and out look­ing for this cry­ing baby,” Estra­da told Fox Nebraska.

Mother Arrested on Child Abuse Charges

Cara Dugan, 40, was arrest­ed at the fair­grounds after author­i­ties found her inside a build­ing, rid­ing a horse. 

The Mer­rick Coun­ty Sher­if­f’s Office stat­ed that the baby had been left unat­tend­ed in a pick­up truck with the engine off and win­dows only par­tial­ly open for a con­sid­er­able time.

Child’s Safety and Legal Consequences

The infant was tak­en to a local hos­pi­tal and for­tu­nate­ly did not sus­tain any injuries. Fol­low­ing the inci­dent, the child was placed in the cus­tody of the Nebras­ka Depart­ment of Health and Human Services.

Dugan now faces child abuse charges for her alleged neg­li­gence. This case high­lights the dan­gers of leav­ing chil­dren unat­tend­ed in vehi­cles, espe­cial­ly dur­ing hot weather.