A three-year-old boy has died after his foster carer accidentally left him in her SUV for hours in 92F heat after thinking she had dropped him off at day care in South Carolina.
Police officers arrived at the scene in Spartanburg on Wednesday at around 5.45pm and were told by the child's guardian that she had mistakenly left him inside her vehicle.
The foster carer told cops she thought she had dropped the child off at day care with her other children on Wednesday morning, Spartanburg Police said in a statement.
A three-year-old boy has died after his foster carer accidentally left him in her SUV for hours in 92F heat after thinking she had dropped him off at day care in South Carolina
But she claimed she did not realize the three-year-old did not go inside with the other children until hours later. The boy had been trapped inside when temperatures reached 92F, reports ABC News.
The guardian found the boy sitting in the back of her SUV and called the police, but when officers and medics arrived at 225 North Lanford Road they were unable to revive the child, police said.
Preliminary autopsy results suggest the boy's death was related to heat exhaustion, according to the Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger.
The name of the child, who is in foster care, has not been released because the Coroner's office is trying to contact the boy's biological mother.
The Department of Social Services said in a statement: 'The Department of Social Services is aware of the child fatality in Spartanburg County and is conducting our own investigation as well as coordinating with local law enforcement.
'DSS Staff mourns the tragic loss of life of this child along with the child’s family.'
The guardian found the boy sitting in the back of her SUV and called the police, but when officers and medics arrived at 225 North Lanford Road they were unable to revive the child, police said
The boy is the seventh child to die in a hot car in the US this year alone, according to charity Kids and Cars.
In 2018, a record 54 children died in hot cars, while 53 died in 2019 and 26 children died last year, according to their data.
Last month, a toddler died in California after her mother left her alone in a car for three hours in 100 degree weather to tend to her marijuana farm.
The Visalia Police Department said they found three-year-old Jessica Campos not breathing after being left alone in a car for three hours, with the vehicle's interior temperature rocketing to 100F.
Her mother Eustajia Mojica Dominguez, 28, has since been arrested over the killing, and is said to have been tending to her huge cannabis farm while her daughter suffocated in the searing heat.
Police say the car interior was have been so scorching that Jessica would not have been able to breathe.
Jessica's mother, 28-year-old Eustajia Mojica Dominguez, (pictured) was tending to a marijuana grow and processing pot while the toddler was in the scorching car, it is alleged
