911 calls at center of tragic van death investigation

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - Both technical problems and human error may be to blame in failing to locate Seven Hills student Kyle Plush.

Plush, 16, was found dead inside the family's gold Honda Odyssey van by his father near the school Tuesday night, about five hours after the teen placed two 911 calls pleading for help and providing details on his location and the description of his vehicle.

TIMELINE: What happened after Seven Hills student's original call for help

According to a report, one of the 911 operators said she couldn't hear Kyle during the second call, and that may be why Kyle wasn't found for hours.

So the 911 call audio, including the audio of Kyle Plush, is now at the center of this story. While we do often air 911 calls here at Fox19 Now, sometimes -- when the call is too graphic or disturbing -- we do not. And that's the case with the audio of Kyle Plush's call to 911.

The audio of hearing Kyle plead for help and knowing he is dying during the calls is simply heartbreaking and quite disturbing. And we decided not to play that audio.

However, now that we are hearing reports the 911 operator says she couldn't hear Kyle, that audio and the audio quality becomes extremely relevant in the investigation and should not be censored from the public.

We still believe hearing Kyle on the calls is gut-wrenching and simply too disturbing to air on TV. But we are making those calls available online, and you can hear them by clicking the link below.

Those wishing to hear the audio and judge for themselves whether they understand Kyle can do so. Those not wishing to hear the audio can simply avoid clicking on the link to the 911 calls.

AUDIO

There are still many questions to this developing story, and you can count on Fox19 Now to work hard to answer them.