Mental Illness Likely In Deaths Of 3 In Hot Car

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- The Maryland medical examiner's office says a woman who died along with her two young daughters in a hot car in June most likely had a mental illness that kept her from leaving or cooling the vehicle.

The autopsy information obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press describes paranoid behavior observed by Allison Pluck's family members.

The report also says Pluck behaved oddly at a Walmart on the morning of the day she and her children died in a middle school parking lot in Hagerstown.

The 32-year-old Guyana native was found along with 18-month-old Shania Gill and 6-month-old Shameka Gill in Pluck's unlocked car in June. The windows were closed and the ignition was off. The report estimates that the car's interior temperature reached 120 degrees.

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