Toddler dies after her teacher mom mistakenly left her in hot car in school parking lot for eight hours as she worked
- 18-month-old Reagan Buckley had been in the car for eight hours outside Panama City elementary school in Florida when her mother returned
- The little girl could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead
- Her mother, teacher Jamie Buckley, mistakenly left her behind that morning and temperatures rose to 83 F (28 C) throughout the day
- No charges have been brought against the mother
Published: 13:25 GMT, 3 June 2015 | Updated: 21:39 GMT, 3 June 2015
An 18-month-old girl has died after her mother mistakenly left her behind in her car while she went to teach at an elementary school.
Jamie Buckley parked her car outside Panama City elementary school in Panama, Florida around 7.30am on Tuesday and left her daughter, Reagan, in the back seat as she headed inside.
The married mom, 38, did not discover the little girl until she returned to the car at around 3.15pm, while temperatures rose to 83 degrees Fahrenheit (28.3 C).
'Preliminary investigation revealed the mother... forgot the child in the car,' Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen said in a press release on Tuesday.
Tragedy: Jamie Buckley, left and right with her husband Daniel, mistakenly left their 18-month-old daughter Reagan, pictured right, in the back of her car on Tuesday afternoon. The little girl later passed away
Loss: Reagan is pictured in an image her father shared to Facebook on Wednesday morning
Reagan was still inside her car seat when she was found, he said.
Bay County Sheriff's deputies found Reagan unresponsive and not breathing when they arrived and were unable to resuscitate her. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators from the Criminal Investigations Division and the sheriff's Crime Scene Unit were called to the scene and an investigation is continuing.
No charges have been filed in the case, USA Today reported, and authorities have not said whether they will be bringing any against the mother, the News Herald said.
The child's body has been turned over to the Bay County Medical Examiner's Office.
Temperatures had already been as high as 70 degrees (21 C) when Mrs Buckley left the car that morning.
The sheriff's department shared the heartbreaking news on its Facebook page, where it was met with disbelief from some readers - yet others had more sympathy.
'I am lucky enough to know this mother,' wrote one reader, Janice Mckinney. 'She would never do this intentionally. Make sure when you blame her. That you look in the mirror throwing those stones.'
Heartbreaking: Investigators are seen outside the school following the incident on Tuesday afternoon
Tragedy: Buckley had parked outside the school, pictured, on Tuesday and returned eight hours later
Another, Michelle Mortz Nowalinski, added: 'She was so worried probably about being on time for class for others children that she got out of her car in a hurry and it totally didn't cross her mind.
'Out of site out of mind, you can not crucify this mother as she is broken enough right now. Instead of passing judgement why don't you pray for her and her family and stop casting stones.'
On Wednesday morning, Mrs Buckley's husband, Daniel, shared an image of the toddler on the beach to his Facebook page. It appears that the couple has two older children, a boy and a girl.
Another relative added on their own page: 'Please pray for my family in this bad time…'
Reagan is believed to be at least the third child to die this year after being left in a hot car.
A 16-month-old girl from Lake City died last month after her father forgot to take her to daycare and then headed to work, while in April, a two-year-old died in a car in Phoenix, Arizona.
A gofundme page has been set up for the Buckley family.
