2-Year-Old Child Died In Hot Car After Crawling Into Vehicle While Mother Napped

Kansas police said the 2-year-old child, who was found dead inside a hot car Tuesday, had wandered outside his home after waking up from a nap and got into the vehicle.

Cowley County Sheriff David Falletti said Thursday the child's mother was unaware the boy had left the home. Authorities said the mother and the toddler were napping together. The mother later found the boy unresponsive in the car. Deputies and medical personnel responded to the home and carried out CPR on the child.

“Life saving measures were attempted and the child was transported to the South-Central Kansas Medical Center where the child was pronounced deceased,” Falletti said, according to Kansas.com.

After being declared dead, the police sent the child's body for an autopsy. Preliminary results revealed the toddler died of “extreme heat exposure.”

Investigators found the child unlocked the front door of the home after waking up and crawled into the family’s vehicle. It remains unclear for how long the toddler was inside the vehicle.

“This is a very tragic death,” Falletti said, adding: “Our prayers and condolences go out to the family.”

This entire week, Kansas has been under a heat advisor. Medical professionals urged parents to keep an eye on their kids and make sure they don’t go exploring, especially into confined spaces.

“Just making sure that they’re not getting themselves in a position that they cant get themselves out of, it’s similar to being in a hot car, that turns unfortunate very quickly, especially on a hot, humid day,” Sedgwick County Emergency Medical Services Captain Cole Mitchell Mitchell, said, according to NBC-affiliate KSN news.

In another recent incident, a 5-year-old child died after being left inside an SUV car for several hours Tuesday in Virginia. The temperature outside at the time was 93 degrees. The child arrived home with a parent and "young" siblings on the day of the incident. While the others got outside the car, the child remained inside, strapped to his car seat. It remains unclear why the child did not exit the car. Officers arrived at the home within minutes after receiving the 911 call, but despite performing CPR, the child died. The police have launched an investigation into the incident.