Boy, 3, discovered dead hot van

Myles Hill died after being left in a hot van at a day care for nearly 12 hours on Monday, authorities said.

Myles’ body was found about 8:30 p.m. Monday after a day-care worker for the Little Miracles Academy left him in the back seat of a van after dropping kids off for the day about 9 a.m., police said.

Charges are pending against the driver, who told police she did not do a head count when dropping off the children, Orlando Police Chief John Mina said.

“This is your worst nightmare come true,” Mina said Tuesday morning.

“This is an absolute tragedy which could have been prevented,” Mina said.

Mina said an autopsy would be performed, but it was likely that the boy died from heat-related causes. He would have turned 4 on Aug. 22. Myles is the fifth child to die in a hot car in Florida and the 33rd nationwide this year, according to NoHeatStroke.org.

Amber Andreasen, director and volunteer manager of nonprofit child safety organization kidsandcars.org, said these deaths can easily be prevented by people simply checking the vehicle before going inside.

“Child-care facilities need to take every safety precaution,” she said. “They need to double, triple and quadruple check that every child is out of the vehicle.

Mina did not say Tuesday if the owners would face any charges. “The day-care worker has been very cooperative and is obviously very distraught,” Mina said.