2 Children Likely Froze to Death as Family Slept in Van That Had Stopped Running: Detroit Police

Two children died after sleeping in a van amid cold winter weather in Detroit.

A 2-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy were among the five children sleeping in the vehicle, which was on the 9th floor of the parking garage at the Hollywood Casino, on Monday, Feb. 10, interim Detroit Police Chief Todd A. Bettison said during a press conference the following day.

Police said that before the mother realized her 9-year-old son wasn't breathing, she had already called a "close relative" for help because the vehicle had run out of gas.

"When the mother realized that her son wasn’t breathing, she did make a 911 call," Bettison said, adding that the friend on the scene immediately used their car to take the child to the Children's Hospital of Michigan.

After checking on the rest of the children in the van, it was determined that the 2-year-old child also wasn't breathing, police said, adding that the friend then came back, at which point the "entire family" got into the car and went to the hospital.

At the hospital, both children "were pronounced deceased, with the early indicator being that they froze to death,” Detroit Police Capt. Nathan Duda told NBC News prior to the news conference.

During the news conference, police said that at the time, "the temperatures were below 32 degrees," and that while a medical examiner will ultimately determine their cause of death, "on the surface right now it appears it was exposure to hypothermia."

The other three children — who were ages 13, 8, and 4, according to Fox 2 — were treated in the hospital but are in stable condition. (During the press conference, police did not go into much detail, but said that the children were all with other family members.)

PEOPLE has contacted the Hollywood Casino at Greektown for comment, but did not immediately hear back.

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Authorities confirmed that there will be an investigation into the deaths and charges for the mother won’t be ruled out, according to CBS Detroit.

According to Fox 2, the mother was detained and provided a statement, however, as police confirmed during their news conference, nobody is currently in custody.

“It has to be [investigated],” Duda told NBC News. “I don’t think anyone really wants to think about that at the moment with the two children passed, but the reality is that the circumstances do have to be examined. We have to figure out how to go forward.”

During the Feb. 11 news conference, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said that one factor that adds to the heartbreak of what happened "is that there were family shelter beds available just a few miles away."

“[It] brings home the point that having services available doesn’t mean very much if the residents who need them don’t know how to access them," Duggan added, going on to note that the family had reached out to their "homeless response team" numerous times, including on Nov. 25.

"In the course of that conversation there was no resolution reached," he said. "As far as we’ve been able to determine so far, the family never called back again for service." Likewise, he said that nobody ever "proactively" reached out to the family to see if they still needed help.

"We have to make sure that we do everything possible to make sure this doesn’t happen again," he added.

Authorities suspect the mother and children had been living in the van for a couple of months.

Those at risk of homelessness are being advised to seek shelters or churches for help, while Duda urged people to call the police if they see anyone sleeping rough in the cold.

"We'll show up with all the right people to be able to offer resources, to transport, to feed, to clothe, to give that person shelter," Duda said, per NBC News. "We do care."