Florida toddler found dead inside hot car after dad forgot to drop him off at daycare
A Florida toddler was found dead after his father mistakenly thought he dropped his son off at daycare — only to make the horrifying discovery hours later that he left the toddler inside his sweltering hot car.First responders were called to the early childhood education center, A World of Discovery Academy, in Plantation — a suburb about 6 miles outside of Fort Lauderdale — on Monday at around 5:30 p.m.after receiving a “report of a deceased child in a vehicle,” Plantation Police posted on X.“Upon arrival, Plantation Fire Department sadly confirmed the child was deceased,” police said.Leslie Novoa, the academy’s director and owner, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel the victim was an 18-month-old boy who attended the bilingual early education center.Novoa told the outlet that the boy’s father was supposed to drop him off at school that morning — but forgot his son was still in the car and went to work.When the father returned in the afternoon to pick up his son, he realized the child had never been dropped off.The academy director said she then opened the back door of the father’s car and found the boy in the back seat — prompting her to call 911 immediately.“This is a tragedy that happened to them and to all of us,” Novoa told the outlet, describing the boy and his parents as a “wonderful family.”The Plantation Police Department said it has opened a death investigation.Temperatures in Plantation reached a high of 94 degrees on Monday, with the afternoon heat index sweltering at 102 degrees, according to AccuWeather.The tragedy marks the third hot car death involving a child in 2026.
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A 3-year-old boy died after being unknowingly left in a hot car in Hillsborough County by his father on June 20, ...