Daniel Garcia and Ivan Salazar Jr, Shelby County, Alabama brothers i’d as toddlers who died in hot car after locking themselves in vehicle.
Two Alabama toddler brothers, aged 1 & 3, died on Saturday after they crawled into a hot car and got trapped inside for 90 minutes, as temperatures exceeded 130 fahrenheit degrees (54 degrees celsius) inside the vehicle.
Deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department according to a release responded to a home near Montevallo on Saturday afternoon at around 2.35pm following a call about two missing children.
There, they found brothers Daniel Garcia, 3, and Ivan Salazar Jr, 1, unresponsive in a vehicle parked at the home, according to a release from the sheriff’s department.
Southeast Shelby Rescue assisted in transporting the pair to the Shelby Baptist Medical Center, where the brothers later died.
‘Our hearts and prayers are with the family of those two little boys during this unimaginable tragedy,’ Sheriff John Samaniego stated in the release.
Latest casualties of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke
Authorities are still investigating the death of the children.
According to Shelby County Coroner Lina Evans, the two boys death were consistent with Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke. Last year there were a total of 52 Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke deaths in the U.S., with three of those in Alabama. As of 2020, there have been 19 such deaths according to kidsandcars.org.
Outside air temperatures on the day were approximately 91 degrees, AL.com reports. Inside air temperatures would have been well over 135 degrees.
Family members for the boys built two large crosses outside the car that sat parked in their yard. They were, however, too distraught to talk about what happened.
‘Daniel was one of the happiest kids you would ever meet. He enjoyed watching cartoons, especially Dinosaur King and Octonautsm,’ according to his obituary. ‘He adored his baby brother, Ivan, and would never let him out of his sight. He loved playing outside and riding his four-wheeler and little car.’
‘Ivan was a happy child that was full of laughter,’ the obituary stated. ‘He always wanted to be held. He was a momma’s boy during the day but wanted his daddy as soon as he arrived home. He loved and adored his daddy.’
A double funeral service will be held on August 22 at 11am at the Ellison Memorial Funeral Home in Clanton, Alabama.
