Toddler Survives for Days On Her Own After Mother Dies: Police

EAST HARTFORD, CT — A toddler survived for several days by raiding the cabinets in her East Hartford apartment after he mother died mysteriously, police said.

A social worker discovered the scene at 1:20 p.m. on Monday while checking on the 44 Silver Lane residence after the child was reported absent from day care for several days, police said. The child, a 3-year-old girl, was then taken to Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford, police said. Representatives from the state Department of Children and Families went to the hospital to arrange a safe place for the child to stay, police said.

There are no visible signs of forced entry at the apartment, nor are there any other criminal elements to the case, according to East Hartford police spokesman Lt. Joshua Litwin. A detective has been assigned to work with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine just what happened to the 37-year-old woman, he said. She was later identified as Twanna Toler.

The child was "slightly dehydrated" but otherwise seemed physically OK, Litwin said. The woman had been dead for several days, he said.

The social worker persuaded the child to open the door to the apartment and was told by the child that "mommy is sleeping," Litwin said. The social worker than discovered the woman's body and called police, Litwin said.

It appeared the child found food on her own, because cereal boxes were discovered open in the kitchen, he said.

"It is a very sad case, but also remarkable," he said.

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