Girl Strangled By Puppy’s Leash

A 6-year-old girl was strangled in her sleep when her playful puppy apparently got its leash wrapped around her neck.

Brad Ault found his daughter, Nicole, dead on a couch when he came home from work Sunday morning.

Nicole usually kept a short nylon leash on the 15-pound beagle mix when she played with the animal, sheriff’s Lt. Chuck Frizzell said. Investigators said that after she fell asleep the dog apparently still wanted to play.

The girl’s mother, Kim, was asleep in a bedroom.