{"id":349591,"date":"2026-07-23T07:07:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T07:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/349591\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T07:07:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T07:07:36","slug":"hot-car-death-near-fort-myers-is-floridas-5th-involving-a-child-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/349591\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot car death near Fort Myers is Florida\u2019s 5th involving a child this year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subheadline\">Kids and Car Safety, a nonprofit that tracks pediatric hot car deaths, listed the Fort Myers case as the 14th child hot car death in the United States in 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\tBy<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tEmilee Speck, AccuWeather staff writer\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Published Jul 22, 2026 5:52 PM EDT\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|<\/p>\n<p>Updated Jul 22, 2026 5:52 PM EDT\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"feature-tag\">\n\t\tA single, fleeting mistake can lead to life-changing tragedy when it comes to children in hot cars. When cars can turn deadly in minutes, here\u2019s what you need to know.\n\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block content-module\">\n\tA 17-month-old girl died after being found inside a hot vehicle outside a church in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accuweather.com\/en\/us\/fort-myers\/33901\/weather-forecast\/328160\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.accuweather.com\/en\/us\/fort-myers\/33901\/weather-forecast\/328160\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Fort Myers<\/a>, Florida, on Tuesday, marking at least the fifth child hot car death in the state this year.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block content-module\">\n\tThe Lee County Sheriff&#8217;s Office told AccuWeather the child&#8217;s death investigation began around 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The 17-month-old girl was found at 7806 College Parkway, the address of a local church in Fort Myers. Authorities have not released additional details about how long the child was inside the vehicle or the circumstances leading up to her death.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block content-module\">\n\t&#8220;This is an active and ongoing investigation while we work with our partners at the State Attorney\u2019s Office,&#8221; the Sheriff&#8217;s Office said.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block content-module\">\n\tTemperatures at Page Field in Fort Myers reached 91 degrees Tuesday afternoon, according to local observations. High humidity pushed AccuWeather RealFeel\u00ae Temperatures into the triple digits.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block content-module\">\n\tA parked vehicle can become dangerously hot within minutes, even when outdoor temperatures are not at record levels. Sunlight heats a vehicle\u2019s interior surfaces, which then radiate heat and cause the temperature inside to rise rapidly.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block content-module\">\n\tKids and Car Safety, a nonprofit that tracks pediatric hot car deaths, listed the Fort Myers case as the 14th child hot car death in the United States in 2026.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block content-module\">\n\tThe organization said this is the fifth such death in Florida this year. The previous incidents occurred in Winter Haven on March 31, Riverview on June 20, Plantation on June 29 and Hallandale Beach on July 5.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block content-module\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.accuweather.com\/en\/us\/florida\/weather-radar\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.accuweather.com\/en\/us\/florida\/weather-radar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Florida <\/a>has accounted for more than one-third of the child hot car deaths recorded nationwide so far this year.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block content-module\">\n\tChildren are especially vulnerable to extreme heat because their body temperatures rise three to five times faster than those of adults. Heatstroke can begin when the body\u2019s core temperature reaches about 104 degrees, while a core temperature of 107 degrees or higher can be fatal.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block content-module\">\n\tThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration urges parents and caregivers to check the entire vehicle before walking away, even when a child is not expected to be riding with them. Personal items such as a phone, purse, work badge or briefcase can be placed in the back seat as an additional reminder.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block content-module\">\n\tCaregivers should also ask daycare providers to call immediately if a child does not arrive as expected. Vehicles should remain locked when parked, with keys and key fobs kept out of children\u2019s reach.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block content-module\">\n\tAnyone who sees a child alone inside a vehicle should call 911 immediately.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<a class=\"typo\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.accuweather.com\/en\/contact\/?type=typo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Report a Typo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kids and Car Safety, a nonprofit that tracks pediatric hot car deaths, listed the Fort Myers case as&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-349591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}