Updated at 8 p.m. Thursday:
Butler County Coroner Andy Moore said his office and the Poplar Bluff Police Department are investigating the death of a “child at a local, Poplar Bluff day care.”
At 1:58 p.m. Thursday, the Poplar Bluff Police Department was called to Kids Corral Preschool & Childcare at the intersection of Barron Road and Main Street due to a unresponsive 22-month-old male and that CPR was being performed by an employee of the day care, according to a statement by police.
Upon arrival, the statement said, Patrolman Trevor Parks took over CPR until the arrival of EMS personnel, who transported the child to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead by a physician.
Moore said an autopsy performed by Dr. Russell Deidiker in Farmington showed “that there was no foul play, accident, or external causes for the child’s death.” A series of blood tests and analysis of pathology from the autopsy will also be performed.
“It appears at this time that the death was due to natural causes,” added Moore, who did not release the name of the child “out of respect for the family’s privacy.”
“Please join me in prayers for this family, the day care workers who attempted to render aid, and the police, EMS crews, and ER room doctors and nurses who all did everything in their power to try and save him,” Moore said.