Florida: "I hope they can forgive me one day for not saving them" Owner blames herself after groomer allegedly leaves her dogs to die in hot car

FLORIDA -- A South Florida woman is devastated as she continues to grieve for her three dogs who, she said, died after they were left inside their groomer's hot car.

According to Miramar resident Danielle Trentin, her dogs Frida, Lancelot and Sofie were picked up by their groomer, March 18, and did not make it home alive. "They lived together, and they went to heaven together," she said.

Charliston Seixas, the canines' groomer, lives just around the block from Trentin, and he had picked them up for their biweekly bath. He and his wife co-own nearby The Pet Club groomers.

As the afternoon wore on, Trentin said, she became concerned. "I started calling him. I called four times and nobody answer," she said.

She went to Seixas's store. but it was closed. She then went to his house. "I said, 'Where are my dogs?' He said, 'Oh, I delivered them a long time ago.' I said, 'No, you didn't,'" she said. "That's when he said, 'Oh, I forgot them at the store. Give me one minute. I'll go there, pick them up and I'll bring them back to you.'"

Trentin and her husband followed Seixas to The Pet Club. She said Seixas came out of the back of the store crying. Trentin ran inside and found nothing but open cages.

Danielle Trentin wants answers about why her
dogs died such a horrific death

Meanwhile, Trentin said, Seixas was not giving her an explanation. "He was telling me, 'No, I can't tell you, I can't tell you, it's a tragedy, I can't tell you,'" she said. "And then I heard my husband calling me. I turned back, and he said, 'They're here.' I ran to the car and saw them there."

Trentin said Lancelot and Sofie were in the back of the groomer's car; Frida lay on the front floorboard. All three of them were dead. "The picture doesn't come out of my mind, no matter what I do," said Trentin. "I just can't forget. I try, but that picture, I'll never forget it."

"I started screaming and crying," Trentin said.

Trentin doesn't know how long her dogs were in the closed car located in a driveway around the block from her own home. "I don't think it's on purpose. I think it was negligence.

Grant I. Schwarz, Seixas's attorney, released a statement that reads, "I have been in communication with the detectives assigned to the case and since this is an ongoing investigation, I cannot comment on any of the facts alleged."

All Trentin has now to remember her pets are family photos, their ashes and their paw prints.

"You know what kills me? That I keep thinking, they were inside the car, asking for me. 'Where is my mom? She is always here with us. Why is she not here saving us?'" she said. "And I just can't sleep because of that. And I hope they can forgive me one day for not saving them."

Miramar Police confirmed this is an open investigation.

(7Online WSVN-TV - Apr 1, 2016)