Infant dies after being left in car all day

An 8-month-old Louisiana boy died after being left in a car for several hours Wednesday, WVUE reported.

A preliminary investigation by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office determined that the child was unintentionally left inside the vehicle from about 8 a.m. Wednesday until he was discovered around 4:30 p.m., when his caregiver went to pick him up from a Hammond daycare and found him still in the car, spokeswoman Dawn L. Panepinto said in a news release. Temperatures in Hammond reached 90 degrees Wednesday.

The guardian told investigators that she thought she left the child at the daycare on her way to work Wednesday morning, WDSU reported. When she returned to pick up the boy, he wasn't there, the Sheriff's Office said.

The child's guardian has been speaking to detectives about the child's death, WDSU reported. Results of the investigation will be forwarded to the district attorney’s office, Panepinto said in the release.

"She’s obviously distraught," Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards told WDSU. "This is a tragic situation, and that’s why we remind parents all the time that tragedies like this aren’t supposed to happen, but they do.”

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