At apress conferenceheld on Tuesday, Feb. 11, interim Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison detailed the tragedy that unfolded while the family’s van was on the ninth floor of the Hollywood Casino parking garage on Monday, Feb. 10.

“The mother realized that her 9-year-old son wasn’t breathing,” said the official, who confirmed at the time there were five children and two adults in the vehicle.

“Previous to that," he added, “she had already called a friend, another close relative, to help” because the vehicle was not running.

Police later specified that it remains unclear whether the van had a mechanical issue or had run out of gas. “They were using their car as shelter," Bettison said. “But during the night, the vehicle stopped. It was frigid. And as a result, we’re here today.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

According to Bettison, the mom’s friend immediately left for the hospital in their car with the boy, but while still on the way, the family then realized the 2-year-old child wasn’t breathing. They called the friend, who returned to the parking garage to pick up the rest of the family.

Police later learned from the hospital that the two children were dead.

“Of course ultimately the medical examiner will determine the cause of death — but just on the surface right now it appears it was exposure to hypothermia,” added Bettison, who stressed that the investigation is ongoing and nobody is currently detained.

Speaking at the news conference, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan offered some insight, but ultimately only said so much.

Based on preliminary information given to him, Duggan said the family had contacted the city’s homeless response team on Nov. 25, and twice previously, including this past summer.

“In the course of that conversation there was no resolution reached on where they would go,” said Duggan. “And one of the things when you call our homeless services folks is that if it’s an emergency situation, we send out one of these outreach workers….For whatever reason, this wasn’t deemed an emergency that caused an outreach worker to visit the family."

He added that, based on what authorities could determine, “the family never called back again for service," nor did their staff reach out to ask if the family still needed help.

“We have to make sure that we do everything possible that this doesn’t happen again,” Duggan added.

“Therefore, we don’t want to provide any additional details until such time information has been reviewed and verified,” they added.

At another point in the news conference, Duggan said that one “heartbreaking” aspect of what happened was that “there were family shelter beds available just a few miles away from where the family” had parked.

“[It] brings home the point that having services available doesn’t mean very much if the residents who need them don’t know how to access them,” he added. “We have got to do a better job of educating folks on the fact that the service is there and getting people to it.”

On why the family chose to bring their van to the Hollywood Casino Parking lot, Bettison said authorities believe that the lot offered free parking, safety and access to the casino’s restrooms.

Bettison went on to say he didn’t want to speculate too much, but that “from what I’ve been told,” the children’s mother “loved her kids and she wanted to keep the family together.”

During the press conference he noted that the three surviving children are now with other family members, although he declined to share additional details.

source: people.com