A 4-year-old girl was hospitalized Tuesday after being discovered in a hot car in a northwest Chicago suburb.
The young girl was found unresponsive around 4:30 p.m. inside a vehicle on Holly Court in unincorporated McHenry, according to police.
Authorities believe the girl overheard conversations about going to grandma's house for dinner, went outside and climbed into the car without anyone knowing.
The family began to look for the girl about 15 minutes later and found her in the car unresponsive. The girl's mother quickly took her out of the car and called 911, police said in a release Wednesday.
The child was transported to Centegra Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry and was transferred to Lutheran General Hospital for further treament. Her condition was not immediately known.
Police said the incident remained under investigation Wednesday and the family was cooperating.
Local
Temperatures have remained in the upper-80s and low-90s across much of the area so far this week with an Excessive Heat Watch taking effect across the area Thursday afternoon.
As of late May, at least eight children around the U.S. had died after being trapped in hot cars, according to health officials. Earlier this month, a 3-year-old boy died after being found unresponsive in a car outside a relative’s home in Ohio.
Health officials have warned that the temperature in a car can rise sharply in as little as 10 minutes even in mild weather, and a child's body can heat several times faster than an adult's body.
