Vehicular heatstroke claimed lives of 2 children at the start of August

By Adriana Navarro, AccuWeather staff writer

Vehicular heatstroke claimed the lives of two more children at the start of the month, raising the total so far this year in the United States to 26.

Two-year-old Aubrey Rose was reported missing on Thursday in Corbin, Tennessee, according to WKYT. When police found her in a car on their property, she had been unresponsive. Rose was taken to Baptist Health Corbin, where she was pronounced dead, according to the news station. State police told the station that a preliminary autopsy report showed Rose died of hyperthermia, or a high body temperature. The father's brother set up a GoFundMe page to help the parents as they grieve.

The father and the toddler had been taking a nap after dropping off the mother at work, according to the page. However, when he woke up, Rose was no longer there.

"Today, while her dad was still asleep, she made her way outside, and got into his car," the brother wrote. Both the gate and the car had been unlocked. The brother notes that Rose was able to open the car door from the outside, but not the inside, and that she loved to play with the steering wheel of the car.

When the father woke up and discovered Rose's absence, he called the police. After multiple agencies showed up, a law enforcement officer found the toddler inside the car, according to the page.

"Aubrey is my brother's whole world. He loves her more than anything. Please keep Aubrey, her mom and dad, and my whole family in your prayers," the father's brother wrote on the GoFundMe page.

Rose's death rings similar to the passing of a three-year-old boy back in late June in Morristown, Tennessee. After parents had called police to report the boy missing, he was found dead in the minivan that was parked in their driveway, according to noheatstroke.org.

WBIR reported that the Morristown police believed there had been some miscommunication between the grandmother and the parents of the child as to who had been watching him at the time. It was in that time when the boy had found his way into the car.

"Investigators believe, at this time, the child entered the vehicle without anyone knowing and became trapped," the Morristown Police Department said. "The investigation is continuing; at this time, it appears to be a tragic accident."

"We think he got in on his own and was just unable to get out," Morristown police spokeswoman Michelle Jones said, according to noheatstroke.org.

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The second death on Thursday was that of a nine-month-old girl was found dead in a hot car in Garland, Texas, according to CBS 11.

Witnesses told the news station that the father of the child had parked his car at the Jerry's Express Car Wash and had been vacuuming the interior when he suddenly pulled out the baby. He had appeared frantic, and 10 to 15 minutes later, they said they saw him running for help.

"I saw a baby in his hands," Jime Sanchez told the news station. "It was just flopping everywhere. So I'm not sure what happened, but I think something was wrong with the baby."

KWTX News 10 reports that police did not immediately say where investigators believe the father had been before he had found his daughter's body.

The temperature Thursday around 5 p.m. at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport was 94 with an AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperature of 98.

According to CBS 11, police are still investigating the incident, and no charges have been filed as of Friday evening. The news outlet reports it was unclear how long the child had been in the car.

There have been a total of 26 child vehicular heatstroke deaths so far in 2019, five of which have been in Texas, according to kidsandcars.org. The average number of deaths from this each year is 38.

Children safety organizations are pushing for new technology to be added into cars to help prevent these deaths.

This incident happened the same day charges against Juan Rodriguez, the father of the 1-year-old twins who died in a hot car last week, were put on hold.