the front door was open by operation of the smaller door being left ajar and the larger door being closed which caused the smaller door to stay open.
upon inspection, i discovered that one of the bolts holding the vertical bar, that locks the smaller door closed, was missing & the vertical bar assembly was dangling loosly on it's other bolt.
i rebolted the assembly back down but i think it may be time to install the lower bar on the smaller door, that goes into the floor to secure the door from the top & bottom.