SAN FRANCISCO, April 20 (UPI) -- A 7-month-old child died after being left in a car overnight for more 14 hours in front of the family's central California home, authorities said.
Sofia Wisher was left in a child seat when the family arrived at their Antioch, Calif., home late Saturday, each parent thinking the other would take her into the home, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.
The parents went to bed around 3 a.m. Each saw the door to the child's room closed and assumed the other had put her to bed, the newspaper said.
Sofia was still strapped in her seat when Cameron Fisher, 25, woke at noon Sunday to go a nearby gym, the newspaper said.
When Sara Wisher, 26, awoke at 2 p.m. and realized the child was not in her crib, she called the gym. Alerted by gym staff, the father rushed to the car to find the child dead.
The temperature Sunday was 78 degrees, but authorities say the car windows were closed and temperatures inside the car probably reached 110 degrees.
Nationally, an average of 36 children die each year when trapped in overheated cars, child-safety experts say.
"One of the huge dangers, of course, with a 7-month-old, rear-facing in the backseat -- the seat doesn't look any different if it's filled or not," said Janette Fennell of Kids and Cars, a non-profit group promoting public awareness to prevent children from being killed in or near cars.
Authorities said the investigation is in it early stages and no decision has been made on whether the parents might face prosecution, the Chronicle reported.
