Mississippi toddler hot car death details released

A child who died in a hot car outside Mighty Cubs Daycare in Booneville on Aug. 16 was identified Friday as 21-month-old Lincoln Dodds.

In a news release Friday, the Booneville Police Department said an investigation by police, the Prentiss County Coroner's office and the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services determined that the toddler's father forgot to drop his son at the day care as he drove to work that morning. Police said the father returned to the day care after work around 4:55 p.m. to pick up his son and discovered that he had been in his vehicle the entire time.

Police said the toddler's mother normally dropped him off at day care but she was out of town that day, so his father took him.

The preliminary autopsy report from the Office of the Mississippi State Medical Examiner cited the cause of death as hyperthermia. 

Booneville police will present the case to the next Prentiss County Grand Jury to determine if any criminal charges will be brought against the father.

"This is a tragic and unintentional act which has affected our entire community. Our thoughts and prayers are with Lincoln’s family," the news released said.

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Contact Harold Gater athgater@gannett.com or 601-961-7368. Follow him onFacebookandTwitter.