A 3-year-old boy was found dead on Monday night after having spent 12 hours in the back of a daycare van as temperatures outside reached 94 degrees.
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Myles Hill, who would have turned 4 this month, was discovered on the floor of the Little Miracles Academy van after his grandmother, who has custody of him, called both the police and the daycare center when he didn’t return home that day. Following her call, Little Miracles employees checked the van, found Myles inside and called the police.
At 8:30 pm, OPD received a call about a child in a van in lot of Little Miracles Academy. A preschool-aged child was found deceased inside pic.twitter.com/jNsHfNkD05
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) August 8, 2017
“It is believed Myles was in the van, the hot van, all day long since 9 a.m.,” Police Chief John Mina said. “It hurts all of us. It’s a tragedy for officers who have to respond.”
The loss of 3 year old Myles is a heartbreaking tragedy. @ChiefJohnMina implores all of us to use more caution. pic.twitter.com/glzGbEduBK
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) August 8, 2017
The van had reportedly left the daycare’s facility on Monday morning and headed to its other center a few miles away. When the van arrived at the destination, Myles never got out and spent the remainder of the day in the unused vehicle. The driver of the van admitted to failing to do a headcount.
The driver, who was “extremely distraught” but cooperative, has criminal charges pending, but Mina declined to specify what the charges are. Additionally, the daycare facility was inspected last month and was cited for violating “transportation rules.” Employees had allegedly been failing to record arrival and departure times of their vehicles, but Little Miracles insists the problem was addressed immediately. Since 2015, Little Miracles has also been cited four other times, including once for not keeping attendance records during fire drills.
If autopsy reports confirm that Myles’ passing was a hot car death, it will be the 33rd tragedy of that sort across the country this year, according to the Orlando Sentinel and NoHeatStroke.org.