Van Zandt County couple arrested after baby, child found abandoned in RV, car

Published 2:44 pm Thursday, July 31, 2025

VAN ZANDT COUNTY — Two parents have been arrested on child endangerment charges after a child was found left in a hot vehicle and a baby was found alone in a hot RV.

Nicholas Ryan Deel is facing multiple charges in the incident, and his wife Susana Aurora Frisbie is also facing a charge.

The Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office said they were engaged with Texas Department of Safety officers in a high-speed chase Monday. DPS officers ultimately located the vehicle, which the suspect, identified as Deel, had abandoned at the Wagon Train RV Park on Interstate-20 S. Service Road.

When DPS officers approached the vehicle, they saw a child inside. The car’s engine was not running, so the child was very hot and sweating. The child also had a nose bleed and had a piece of “blood-soiled toilet paper” in one of their nostrils, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deel had fled to his RV after the pursuit and was located and apprehended by deputies. Deel told deputies his 9-month-old baby was inside the RV but refused to let deputies inside to check on the child. He told deputies they needed to contact Frisbie, the mother of the child, to get permission to go inside. However, he refused to share her contact information, the sheriff’s office said.

Deel was arrested by DPS at that time, so deputies helped DPS enter the RV to check on the baby. Law enforcement found the 9-month-old in a play pen covered with a bed sheet, which was blocking air flow. A blanket was also inside the play pen laying on the baby. Deputies saw several empty bottles.

They picked the baby up, who had a soiled diaper and was “very hot to the touch,” the sheriff’s office said.

Frisbie came home shortly after and told deputies she and Deel left the baby in the RV alone while Deel took her to work earlier in the day.

Both children were taken to the hospital to be medically evaluated. They were also turned over to the custody of Child Protective Services.

Frisbie has been charged with the felony of abandoning or endangering a child. Deel has been charged with two felony counts of abandoning or endangering a child as well as a charge of fleeing from a police officer and tampering with intent of great harm.