Dad reportedly forgets he didn’t drop toddler off at daycare, finds him dead in backseat

PLANTATION, Fla. (WKRC) – A man reportedly forgot he didn’t drop his son off at daycare and returned to find him dead in the backseat of a vehicle.

According to a statement issued by police on X at 8:40 p.m. on Monday, June 29, a toddler was found dead inside a vehicle Monday outside a Plantation preschool, with police investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.

The Plantation Police and Fire Department and Plantation Fire Department responded at about 5:39 p.m. Monday to A World of Discovery Academy after receiving a report of a deceased child inside a vehicle.

When first responders arrived, Plantation Fire Department personnel pronounced the child dead at the scene, according to police. Plantation police detectives are investigating, and authorities have not released the child’s identity.

According to The South Florida Sun Sentinel, the child was an 18-month-old boy who attended A World of Discovery Academy. The boy also had an older sibling enrolled at the center, and the family had been with the daycare for about six years, per the publication.

Leslie Novoa, the academy’s director and owner, told the publication that the child’s father was supposed to drop him off at daycare Monday morning but forgot the boy was still in the vehicle before driving to work. Novoa said the father later drove to the daycare, believing his son was already inside.

According to The Sun Sentinel, Novoa said the family had previously notified the center that the older sibling would not attend that day. When the younger child did not arrive, staff did not immediately realize anything was wrong. Novoa said the center’s usual practice is to contact families by the end of the week to document the reason for any unexplained absence.

Novoa told The Sun Sentinel that when the father arrived at the daycare that afternoon, he initially believed there had been some mistake. She said he discovered what had happened only after opening the vehicle’s rear door to take his son out, per the report.

“He opened the door, then slammed it shut,” Novoa told the publication. “And he let out this scream.”

The academy is a bilingual early childhood education center serving children from three months to four years old, according to its website.

“This is a tragedy that happened to them and to all of us,” Novoa told The Sun Sentinel, describing the family as “very loving and caring.”

The investigation remains ongoing, and no additional information has been released by authorities.