Published: October 10, 2008 10:31 pm      

2-year-old dies after being left in car

A two-and-a-half year-old boy was found dead Friday in a parking lot near Saint Joseph London after he was left in a family member’s SUV for more eight hours.

London Police Lt. Stewart Walker said officials received a call at about 4:45 p.m. Friday from the child’s grandmother, Linda Long of Corbin, an employee of the hospital. When officials arrived at the employee-used parking lot on East 6th Street, Madison Nose was already dead.

Laurel County Coroner Doug Bowling said the child had been left in the Suzuki XL.7 since around 8 a.m. Bowling said the cause of death was hyperthermia — excessive exposure to heat. The temperature inside the car on Friday could have exceeded 100 degrees.

Walker said officials believe Nose fell asleep in the back seat of the vehicle while Long was on her way to work, and Long forgot to drop him off at daycare and forgot he was in the car that morning. Long was taken into custody Friday and charges have been filed.

Hospital officials said they could not comment on the situation because it is a police matter.

“The grandmother, at this time, is charged with reckless homicide,” Walker said.

The investigation is continuing and is headed by Sgt. Russell Baker of the London Police Department and is assisted by the Laurel County Major Crimes Task Force.