Child, 2, dies of exposure outside family’s New Hampshire apartment

A 2-year-old girl was found dead outside her house in sub-zero weather in Newport, N.H. She was 2-years-old.  (Lindsay Van Schoick via AP)

A New Hampshire toddler was found dead Monday morning after she wandered outside her family’s apartment building in sub-zero temperatures and couldn't get back in, The Valley News reported.

Police said the 2-year-old’s death “appears to be a bad accident” and is not considered suspicious, according to the report. The incident occurred in Newport, which is about 40 miles northwest of Concord.

Neighbors reportedly found the girl’s lifeless body at the bottom of a set of stairs and alerted the family around 7:00 a.m. She was reportedly barefoot and wearing only a nightgown.

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Preliminary autopsy results cited in the Valley News indicated the girl died of the elements and hypothermia. The neighbors who found the girl said they had heard a child crying around 4:00 a.m., looked outside, didn’t see anyone, then went back to sleep.

The child’s grandfather told the paper that she somehow left the house and wasn’t able to get back inside. It wasn’t immediately clear what led her to leave the apartment. An investigation is ongoing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.