Buckeye toddler dies after being found unresponsive inside a car, PD says
BUCKEYE, Ariz. - The Buckeye Police Department says a little girl, 3, who was found unresponsive inside a car died on Sunday night.
The child was found at a home near Verrado Way and McDowell Road on Sept. 8 around 5 p.m.
Police said the family of the toddler came home after the park and realized hours later the child was still inside the car.
The girl was rushed to the hospital, but died not long after.
Authorities took a temperature reading inside the car, with the doors open, and it was 130 degrees. The reading was taken "long after" the child had been found.
‘Look before you lock’
Police say there were several people inside the car when the family returned home from an afternoon at a nearby park.
Family members told police they thought everyone had got out of the car, and then at least two hours later, they realized the little girl was unaccounted for and that's when she was found inside the car in the driveway.
Police say there are a lot of details to sort out.
It's unclear if the little girl was restrained by a car seat, and exactly how many people were in the car with her when they returned home.
Police shared a message of "look before you lock" for parents and guardians of small children, especially during the summer months.
"Here in the Phoenix metro, we have extreme heat, triple-digit temperatures. The message is always, ‘Look before you lock.’ Even if it's putting your wallet or your purse in the back seat with your child so that you're forced to look in your back seat before you leave your vehicle. It's a message that we hear often, and apparently have to keep continuing to echo that message as a reminder for people, parents, guardians, caretakers to make sure that those kids, that no one is left behind in a hot vehicle," Buckeye Police spokesperson Carissa Planalp said.
There is no one in custody in connection with this case.
Police are gathering information and conducting interviews to learn more about what happened.