Toddler Dies After Being Accidentally Left In Hot Car For Hours

A 19-month-old toddler died Tuesday after being left alone in a car for several hours in Moraga, California, where the outside temperature was at least 80 degrees.

Moraga police said Lily Aracic of Oakland was accidentally left in the vehicle by a family member, who eventually found her hours later. However, the girl wasn’t breathing when found.

The police reached the scene after receiving a call at 3:50 p.m. local time (6:50 p.m. EDT) Tuesday about an unknown medical incident. In the background, the dispatcher reported there was a person screaming and crying.

At the scene, the officials tried to revive the child before transporting her to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek where she was pronounced dead, San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Police said when officers arrived on scene, the temperature outside was 80 degrees. However, it could have reached up to 120 degrees in the vehicle while the girl was inside, NBC reported.

Moraga Police Department was investigating the incident and the exact cause of death will be determined by the Contra Costa County Coroner’s office.

Moraga police Chief Jon King said Wednesday the incident appears to be an accident, but officials will know more after the investigation is complete. He also added the family was devastated and the death was the first of its kind in the Bay Area and third in California this year, the Mercury News reported.

“I can’t even imagine the pain that this person is feeling, that the family is feeling. Our immediate focus, in addition to finding out what happened, is to tend to their needs and to do whatever we can for them in what’s the worst moment of their lives. I wouldn’t wish this upon my worst enemy. I’m heartbroken,” he said.

“Right now, as with any death case that’s not from natural causes, we’re doing everything possible to determine exactly what happened. We’ll go forward from there,” King added.

According to Jan Null, a Bay Area meteorologist, who began tracking the deaths after being locked inside hot cars in 2001, around 800 children have died in the United States over the past 20 years due to the phenomena and Aracic became the 46th such victim in 2018. According to his website noheatstroke.org , 54 percent of such deaths occur because a caregiver forgets the child is in the car.

“It can be a change in routine, or they get to concentrating on something. It’s easier than you think to forget,” he said adding, “People say it would never happen to them, but the truth is, it does happen. It happens to all kinds of people. It happens to bad people, yes, but it also happens to very good people, too.”

According to him, 27 percent of children die when they crawl into the car and lock themselves in without anyone’s knowledge and another 18 percent of the deaths happen when a caregiver purposely leaves the child behind, the Mercury News reported.