Questions continue nearly two weeks after Indialantic child dies

Questions remain as the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the death of a child — possibly in a car — nearly two weeks ago in Indialantic.

The child, identified in public records as a 3-year-old, was reported missing and later found dead near a home in the 100 block of Sand Dollar Road. It was the second child death to take place in less than a month in Brevard County.

The sheriff’s agency has not detailed the nature of the Indialantic death, leaving behind questions for residents who saw nearly two dozen deputies along with fire rescue crews and the sheriff’s helicopter respond Friday afternoon.

Brevard County Fire Rescue, whose paramedics were called to the site, responded to a public records inquiry but said that the agency did not have any "responsive reports," and that dispatch records were now handled by the sheriff's office.

FLORIDA TODAY also reached out to a spokesperson for the Department of Children and Families, who said the agency was crafting a response to the incident. Two weeks later, the state agency has not yet publicly acknowledged its investigation of the case or whether there has been prior contact with the child's family.

According to public records obtained from the sheriff's office by FLORIDA TODAY seven days after the incident, the child was reported missing at 11:55 a.m. on June 7.

The child, wearing only a diaper, was last seen by caregivers 30 minutes before, records show. It was not immediately known who found the child or if the child was located in a nearby car as some neighbors reported but records show the boy was found unresponsive in the yard, overheated. The time was 12:08 p.m. The child was declared dead at 12:41 p.m., sheriff's dispatch records show.

The National Weather Service said that the temperature that day peaked at 11:30 a.m. for Melbourne, hitting a hotter than normal 94 degrees.

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