Authorities are investigating the deaths of a young child and his father after both bodies were found at their home in Virginia this week.
Chesterfield County Police said they believe the child, an 18-month-old boy, died after his father unintentionally left him alone inside a car for several hours. Officers discovered the child dead at his family’s residence on Tuesday, while responding to reports that suggested a toddler may have been forgotten in an unattended vehicle.
Around the same time, the department also received information about “suicidal statements” made by the child’s father. Officers found the father’s body in a wooded area behind the house after the child was first discovered indoors, police said. The father’s death, by a gunshot wound that was apparently self-inflicted, is being investigated as a suicide.
Police said their early investigation indicates the father shot himself after accidentally leaving the toddler inside his car and later realizing the child had died.
“When the father discovered the child deceased in the vehicle, he returned home and took the child inside the residence. He then exited the residence and shot himself,” police said.
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