PART 4: What the Hospital Found

At the emergency department, Owen was given warm blankets, water in measured sips, and food only after a clinician checked that he could tolerate it.

He had signs of dehydration, bruises from contact with the enclosure, and a small abrasion where the metal latch had scraped his wrist.

The medical team documented everything without treating him like evidence instead of a child.

I sat by his bed while a pediatrician named Dr.