5-Year-Old Girl Dies After Family Realized She Was Missing and Found Her in Hot Car Outside Home: Police

A 5-year-old girl in Garland, Texas, died after being left in a hot car, according to police.

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A 5-year-old girl in Garland, Texas, died after being left in a hot car, police say

The child had recently started school in a new district and was found unresponsive by her family, officials confirmed

An investigation is ongoing, but police say no charges have been filed as of now

A 5-year-old Texas girl died after being left inside a hot car, police say.

Officers were dispatched to a home in Garland around 8:20 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Aug. 18, after receiving a report of a 5-year-old girl experiencing a medical emergency, police said in a statement shared to Facebook on Wednesday, Aug. 19.

First responders at the scene provided life-saving measures and transported the girl — who has not been publicly identified — to a local hospital, where she was pronounced deceased.

Investigators later learned that the girl had been left in a car after a family member brought her and a sibling home from school. The girl’s family realized she was missing and began searching for her, police said.

After finding her in the car, they immediately began CPR and called 911.

“The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the child’s death remains active,” police said. “As part of our standard procedures following a traumatic incident, community counseling services will be offered to the family.”

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AccuWeather shows that Garland, which is northeast of Dallas, had a high temperature of 108 degrees and a low of 82 degrees on Tuesday. An extreme heat warning is currently in place for the region.

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The Garland Independent School District confirmed to PEOPLE in a statement that the girl “was a new student in our district.”

“This profound loss saddens us deeply, and our thoughts are with the family,” they wrote in a statement. “Crisis counselors are available to support students and staff on campus affected by this tragedy.”

Police say that no charges have been filed in the case, but the investigation remains ongoing as they “continue working to determine the complete sequence of events leading up to this tragic incident.”

There have been 23 pediatric hot car deaths in the U.S. this year so far, according to data from the National Safety Council. A reported 34 children died in hot cars in 2025, including eight in Texas.

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