ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A 1-year-old was found dead in St. Petersburg after he was left in a car all day.
St. Petersburg police said that the boy was found unresponsive in his father’s car at Kindercare Bayfront Child Development Center on 6th Avenue South just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
The father went to pick up the child from the daycare, and they told him the child did not attend on Wednesday, according to SPPD.
“The father had the child in the morning, and it was not part of their routine, took the child to an appointment with them and then after the appointment was supposed to drop the child off at daycare,” said Yolanda Fernandez with the St. Petersburg Police Department.
Shortly after, the father discovered the boy in the back of his car, where he had been all day, St. Petersburg Police Department said.
“He went to the daycare to pick the child up and they said, well, you never dropped him off,” Fernandez said.
Tampa Bay had a record-high temperature of 91 degrees on Wednesday with a heat index of 101 degrees.
“In just 10 minutes, it can become 20 degrees hotter inside a vehicle with the doors closed and that is not an environment that is sustainable for life for a child, or an adult,” St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Division Chief Lindsay Judah said.
There are several apps that parents can download to their phones that will send reminders, or notifications if a child is left in a car.
St. Petersburg Fire Rescue said there are low-tech methods, too.
“We ask them to maybe leave things behind in the front seat, such as the child’s shoe or a teddy bear or a bottle to try to help remind them that they may have a child in their back seat,” Judah said.
No other information was immediately available. Police will investigate to determine if charges will be filed.