Autistic man dies at Langhorne center after five hours in parked van

The staff at the carefully tended campus at Woods Services in Langhorne offer their developmentally disabled clients not just an education, but a "safe" place to live with "close supervision" and the kind of therapy that might one day allow residents to live in a community setting.

But Saturday, that hope ended tragically for Brian Nevins when the severely autistic 20-year-old died after being left in a parked van for five hours.

"With the temperatures Saturday, in a closed vehicle, it probably reached 125 or 130 degrees in an hour," Bucks County Coroner Joseph Campbell said Tuesday.

"It's a horrible tragedy."

Campbell said Nevins, originally from Oceanside in Nassau County, N.Y., died of hyperthermia within an hour to 90 minutes. His death was ruled accidental.

According to police, Nevins and three other residents of the sprawling community had been taken in a Kia Sedona minivan to Sesame Place that morning with two counselors. When the van returned at about noon, one counselor was dropped off with his two clients, while the driver drove her charges to Woodlands, a cluster of small buildings devoted to people with varying degrees of intellectual disability and significant behavioral problems.

The driver then parked the van in its usual spot and turned in the keys. She completed her shift at 3 p.m. It wasn't until an hour later, when a nurse went in search of Nevins to give him his medication, that staff discovered he was missing, police said.

For more than an hour they looked for Nevins, who could walk but was not verbal, starting with all the nearby buildings before turning to the vehicles.

Nevins was discovered dead in the back of the maroon van in which he had traveled to Sesame Place, lying down in a backseat.

It was not clear whether the van locked from the inside.

The young man was a triplet, and a brother was also a client at Woods Services. His parents, Diane and William Nevins of Oceanside, removed their second son from the facility late Saturday.

William Nevins is a celebrated retired New York police lieutenant who broke a string of high-profile cases, including the Wendy's massacre a decade ago.

The family declined to comment Tuesday.

"William Nevins is a brilliant, great detective. He and his wife are incredible people," said Nevins' onetime attorney, Harry Kutner Jr. "I can't believe it. It's a terrible tragedy for any family."

Police said both counselors had been suspended pending the outcome of the investigations into Nevins' death. The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, the local police, and a New York state agency were investigating.

Rep. Dennis O'Brien (R., Phila.), a leading advocate in the legislature for children and adults with autism, said he would press for answers in the case.

"I don't understand how it happened," said O'Brien.

O'Brien, whose nephew has autism, said he has visited the Woods several times and has heard it has a "wonderful reputation." Nevertheless, he said, there needs to be "full disclosure" about what happened.

Robert Schultz, director of the Center for Autism Research at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said Nevins' disabilities might have prevented him from opening a van door to let himself out.

"But if they had been in the vehicle many times, and it wasn't locked, it's hard to imagine," Schultz said.

Employees at such residential facilities must at least have a high school diploma and the ability to speak English. They also are subject to child-abuse and criminal-history checks, must be proficient in first aid, and undergo at least 40 hours a year in training related to the care and management of children.

Cheryl Kauffman, spokesman for Woods Services, said criminal-background checks had been conducted for the two counselors.

Michael Race, spokesman for the Welfare Department, said the facility, which employs 1,800 people and has 700 beds, is in good standing. It was founded in 1913. Last year, a 17-year-old resident fled the campus and fell or jumped from an overpass to his death. After an investigation, Woods Services was cleared of wrongdoing.

Services were scheduled for 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, July 28, at St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church in Oceanside.