Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, are investigating the death of a child who was left in a vehicle.
Police arrived Tuesday after 3:20 p.m. on the 6700 block of Grey Fox Drive in Springfield. They tried lifesaving efforts, and the 5-year-old boy was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Preliminarily, police said the child was taken home by a parent earlier in the day. A Fairfax County police spokesman said that as the family exited the car, the child remained fastened to the child safety seat. Police do not know why he was left behind.
Several hours later, the child’s parent found him unconscious in the family’s vehicle and called 911.
The investigation is ongoing, but police believe the child had been in the vehicle for an extended period and that the temperature of the interior of the vehicle was a factor in his death, a news release said.
“Officers responded here for what was reported as a tragic accident, and at this point, I don’t have any reason to doubt that,” Lt. John Lieb said. Police said an autopsy would determine the exact cause of death, but Lieb added that heat was a factor.
Below is the area where it happened.
The temperature outside the car was 93 degrees, but temperatures inside vehicles can climb much higher.
Nonprofit KidsAndCars.org reported that there have been 11 child hot car deaths this year. The organization said that the inside of a vehicle heats up very quickly, and even with the windows cracked, the temperature inside can reach 125 degrees in minutes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
