A Seven Hills School sophomore made at least two 911 calls pleading for help Tuesday as he was being crushed to death in his van in a parking lot near the school.
Kyle Plush, 16, became increasingly desperate in the calls while the dispatcher struggled to pinpoint his location.
"Help, help, help," Plush said in a call he made at 3:16 p.m. "I'm in desperate need of help."
Plush said several times he was "at Seven Hills," though the operator apparently did not hear clearly or understand what he meant. "Where are you?" she said, over and over. "What is the address?"
In a second 911 call, Plush again begged for help. "I probably don't have much time left, so tell my mom that I love her if I die," he said. "I'm trapped inside my gold Honda Odyssey van. In the (inaudible) parking lot of Seven Hills Hillsdale.
"Send officers immediately. I'm almost dead."
A police radio call shows that two officers were assigned to investigate the call seven minutes after the first call was made. They arrived at the scene a few minutes later, but were unable to find the van.
Plush was found by a family member around 9 p.m. in a parking lot near the school in Madisonville, about six hours after his first call to 911. A preliminary autopsy report shows he died of asphyxia due to chest compression, meaning he was crushed to death.
The report does not say how it happened or how long it took for Plush to die. The Hamilton County Coroner's Office found no evidence of foul play, and Cincinnati Police say they are continuing to investigate.
"Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of Kyle," Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco wrote in a press release announcing the findings.
City Manager Harry Black said city officials, who run the 911 center, also are investigating the incident. "This matter is very disturbing," Black said. "If there are deficiencies on the part of the 911 center operations, my mandate is to fix whatever needs to be fixed."
Sometime after Plush's first call, the 911 dispatcher called back on his cell phone number, but it went to voicemail: "Hello, this is Kyle. I'm not available right now. I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
The operator then spoke to an unidentified deputy trying to locate Plush. The deputy speculated it might have been a prank call, but he continued to search the area.
"It was really hard to hear," the operator told the deputy. "It was really a strange call."
In Plush's second call to 911, a banging sound can be heard in the background. It's not clear from the calls if Plush can hear the operator or how close he may be to his phone. On several occasions, he calls for "Siri," the automated voice on iPhones.
Near the end of his second call, it sounds as if Plush is struggling to breathe.
About six hours later, around 9 p.m., more calls are made to 911 after officers and family members find Plush's body in the van.
"We are missing a kid and apparently he's been found in his car in the parking lot," said one caller, who works for the school. "I guess we need police and an ambulance there."
A night shift worker at the school also called 911, saying he was with Plush's father in the parking lot. He told the operator Plush was "turned over in the seat and stuck there."
"He's been there for awhile," he said.
There are not many details about exactly how Plush died or how he became trapped, but asphyxia is essentially death from lack of oxygen. Often, it happens when someone falls on the ground or a floor and a weight drops on his or her back.
About 800,000 Honda Odyssey vans were recalled in 2017 because of a problem with second-row seats accidentally tipping forward. Honda said last year it had received 46 reports of minor injuries related to the problem.
It's not known whether Plush's van was among those recalled.
In a letter sent to Seven Hills families Tuesday morning, a school spokesperson called the death "a tragic accident."
Plush joined Seven Hills in sixth grade, the letter states.
"He was a young man of keen intelligence, good humor, and great courage, and this whole community feels this loss very deeply."
Cameron Knight, Anne Saker, Jennie Key and Sharon Coolidge contributed to this report.
