3-year-old boy found dead in hot vehicle

A north Idaho sheriff’s officer says a 3-year-old boy who apparently climbed into a car by himself at his home has been found dead.

Bonner County sheriff’s Capt. Ror Lakewold says the cause of death is under investigation but heat was a major contributing factor. Two dogs also died Thursday in the car in the small community of Spirit Lake.

Lakewold says the boy’s mother and her boyfriend may have fallen asleep in the house and the child wandered outside with the two dogs and all three of them climbed into the car. He says the boy was not locked in the vehicle.

The mother found him, called for medics and tried to revive him. The officer says the boy and the dogs were dead at the scene.

Lakewold says an autopsy is planned Friday. Detectives are trying to determine how long the boy was in the car.

The National Weather Service says temperatures reached the low 80s in north Idaho on Thursday.