A 72-year-old man from Port Arthur, Texas, died inside his dream car when the lock system malfunctioned and he was trapped inside his 2007 Corvette with his dog, Leia. James Rogers and his dog, Leia both died from heat exhaustion earlier this week.
The man and the dog were apparently headed towards a waffle house in Port Arthur were he frequented. Police believe a cable came loose and cut off the power to the car when he and the dog were inside, rendering him unable to open the doors, lower the windows or honk the horn. He couldn't call for help because he left his phone in the Waffle House, but still made what was described as "a valiant attempt to escape." Emergency crews who arrived struggled to get him out as well and eventually had to break a window, but it was too late.
Another regular customer and employees tried to rescue Rogers but couldn't get the doors open. A firefighter eventually broke a window, but Rogers and his dog were already dead. On an online Corvette forum, several posters detailed having been locked inside their cars. "I called my wife and daughter to let me out with the extra set of keys. They laughed so hard and told everyone about it and they have made it a town joke about this," wrote a Corvette owner with the handle "syswayne."
The accident is not uncommon for some Corvette models, owners say. A low battery or a low key fob battery can cause the locks to lock up. But there is a manual release on the driver's side that allows occupants to bypass the battery, according to owners' manuals. According to Corvette experts, there is a manual release inside the vehicle, but most people don't know about it and many say it is difficult to see. The release is usually located on the left-hand side of the floorboard by the driver and the right-hand side by the passenger.
