At approximately 12:25 AM this morning, Thursday, January 29, 2026, Mentor Police officers responded to the Extended Stay America hotel at 5650 Emerald Court after a concerned resident reported finding a small child alone in the parking lot and brought her inside for safety.
The child, a 3-year-old girl, was wearing only a sweater in temperatures of 8 degrees with 10 mph winds. Officers immediately placed her in a warmed patrol vehicle. With assistance from hotel residents, officers determined she had been staying at the hotel with her family.
Officers located the family’s room and made contact with the mother, Laura Beitler, 36. Ms. Beitler had been asleep and was unaware her daughter had left the room. During the conversation, she discovered her 8-year-old daughter was also missing.
Additional Mentor Police officers were summoned to the scene, and mutual aid was requested from the Lake County drone team, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and Mentor-on-the-Lake Police Department. They were joined in their search efforts by other hotel residents.
Shortly thereafter, a resident reported locating the 8-year-old girl outside the nearby Hampton Inn at 5675 Emerald Court. She was wearing only a t-shirt and sneakers and was also placed in a warmed police vehicle.
Due to cold-weather exposure, both girls were transported by Mentor Fire Department medics to TriPoint Medical Center for evaluation. They were released a short time later with no reported injuries.
Ms. Beitler was taken into custody and charged with Endangering Children. The girls’ father arrived on scene and took custody of the children; he had been away earlier due to a family emergency.
The Mentor Police Department extends its gratitude to the alert residents of the Extended Stay America who promptly notified officers and assisted in locating the children. Their quick and decisive actions helped ensure a positive outcome in a situation which could have easily turned tragic.
With the current extreme cold weather across the region, the Mentor Police Department reminds all parents and caregivers to supervise young children closely, secure doors and windows, and never leave children unattended – even briefly – as temperatures this low can pose life-threatening risks in minutes.