Haunting scene where Megan Oxley's body found after she ran out of gas & got trapped in car with 2 children in Missouri
Michael Hansen
Published Aug 21, 2026
A WOMAN has been found dead after she and two young children got trapped inside a hot car on the side of the highway.
Megan Oxley's family began to worry when they couldn't get in touch with her and her two nieces on Saturday.
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Her sister, Amber Jones, reached out to police for answers.
"I just assumed that maybe she stayed with someone or maybe someone had come and got her, but no one was able to get ahold of her," Jones told local ABC and NBC affiliate KAIT.
"And the next morning we were pretty panicked, we called the cops and got them involved."
The Dunklin County Sheriff's Department was able to locate Oxley's car.
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"We pinged the phone, pinged the young lady’s phone, and found that she was somewhere near county road 522," Sheriff Bob Holder said.
The vehicle had run out of gas and Oxley, who was paralyzed from the waist down, could not get out of the car.
Her two nieces couldn't help her because of their young ages.
Oxley and the children were trapped inside the car as the temperatures reached as high as 100 degrees.
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"There was indication that [the children] were outside the vehicle, there were footprints outside the vehicle," said Holder.
By the time help arrived, Oxley was already dead.
Her body was found in the driver's seat.
Jones was in shock over her sister's death and shared her last interaction with her.
"She was happy when I saw her last, she was smiling and talking to me," she said.
"She was just so full of life."
The children, who didn't understand the magnitude of the situation, were saved after spending hours inside the car.
"I am so thankful," Jones said of the discovery that the children were still alive.
"I was terrified, very terrified."
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Both kids were said to be in good condition and recovering at the hospital.
The family thanked the police for their work in the search for Oxley.
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