Update: Preliminary Report Blames Heat for Death of Hot Springs Child Left in Car

HOT SPRINGS, AR – Police have released the unofficial cause of death of the little boy found dead inside his father’s car on Friday.

In a news release issued Monday, the Hot Springs Police Department (HSPD) said the State Crime Lab’s preliminary report found that the child’s death was caused by excessive heat. An official cause of death will not come for another few weeks when toxicology reports are completed.

The HSPD said the boy, who was found shortly after 3 p.m., was left unattended in the car for an undetermined amount of time. (Afternoon temperatures on Friday were recorded at around 100 degrees).

The release also revealed what we had already learned, that the child was the son of Wade Naramore, who is a Garland County Circuit Court judge.

The HSPD says officers are still interviewing potential witnesses, trying to find surveillance video and are reviewing 911 calls and police dashcam video/audio as their investigation continues.

Naramore, his wife, numerous friends and family members voluntarily came to the police department to be interviewed, the release stated, adding that Naramore was released pending the outcome of the investigation.

The police department said it has been in constant consultation with the Garland County Prosecutor’s Office since the incident occurred. The prosecutor’s office has informed police that they intend to seek assistance from a yet to be determined “special prosecutor” from another jurisdiction within Arkansas.

Until that person is named, the HSPD said, no further information would be released.

Anyone with information on the case is urged to call HSPD Detective Sgt. Chris Hays at (501) 321-6789.

HOT SPRINGS, AR – KARK has learned the identity of the child found dead inside a hot car on Friday afternoon.

We have learned that the boy was the son of Garland County Circuit Judge Wade Naramore. 

Naramore’s public Facebook profile shows pictures of his two-year-old son, Thomas.

The Hot Springs Police Department confirmed the child died Friday after being left in the car but has not yet officially released the identities.

HOT SPRINGS, AR – Police say a 2-year-old child has died after being left in a car as afternoon temperatures soared to around 100 degrees.

The Hot Springs Police Department (HSPD) say they got the call and responded to the residential area in the 100 block of Fairoaks Place just after 3 p.m. Friday.

We’re told neighbors were involved in trying to help when the father of the child asked them to.

Police had the newer model Toyota sedan with its door still open, surrounded with police tape all afternoon and after dark.

Police released very little information into the circumstances of what led up to this but neighbors shared what they discovered after they say the father of the child had asked for help.

“[The father] had driven home, left the baby in the car, forgot the baby was in the car for about four hours and I guess when he realized he went out to the car,” Donny Lodan explained. “I think we’re all … in shock that you just — everybody always says this — but you never really expected to happen … two doors down.”

After the father went to the car, we’re told he drove to a neighbors house for help. That’s where police responded.

According to a police news release, officers tried life saving measures but it was too late.

The HSPD says they will conduct a thorough investigation and the body will be sent to the State Crime Lab to determine the cause of death.

The identities of the child or the parents have not been released.