Parents explain why infant was locked in Niagara Falls safe

The parents of a baby found locked in a Niagara Falls, Ontario hotel room safe are off the hook after explaining the circumstances to police.

The discovery of the 1-year-old set off outrage and a search for the parents after the hotel staff waited an hour to notify police according to the New York Daily News. By the time the police arrived the family, traveling with two other families, had left the hotel in a van with New Jersey plates

"The family was unaware of all the attention they had received and were very cooperative with investigators from the Child Abuse Unit," Niagara Regional Police Department spokesman Sgt. Chris Stewart told the Daily News.

According to CBC News, the Brooklyn couple returned to Niagara Falls and explained that their kids were playing Hide-and-Seek and thought that safe would be a good place for their youngest sibling to hide and closed the safe door. The kids didn't know how to unlock the door and called their parents who then turned to hotel staff for help to release the crying child.  A language barrier slowed down the process.

The family has since moved on to their next vacation destinaltion of Markham, Ontario.