The family of a 12-year-old boy who died Wednesday after he was left in a hot car are struggling with his death, which they “could never have imagined happening.”
According to police, who originally reported the boy was 9 years old, a staffer at Roost Services in American Fork — a business that cares for people with intellectual disabilities — left the boy in the car with the engine turned off, doors closed and windows up, at about 11:30 a.m. When the staffer returned to the car about two hours later, the boy was not breathing. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.
The boy’s uncle identified him as Joshua Hancey, 12, in a GoFundMe page seeking donations to pay for his funeral.
“Josh had special needs and was going to a care facility,” wrote Dustin Hancey. “A member of the facility staff picked him up from his house, and drove him to the care facility for the day. To my family’s horror, he had been left in a car with the windows rolled up on a hot summer day for several hours before the facility realized he had not been brought inside.
“There are no words to describe the devastation my family is feeling right now. Josh was a loving child who needed extra care, and was gravely mistreated. What Josh endured in his final hours is unspeakable, and nothing I would ever wish on someone else.”
Roost Service did not reply to requests for comment. American Fork police have not said if they will seek charges against anyone in the boy’s death.
As of midday Thursday, the GoFundMe page — which had a goal of $7,500 — had raised more than $15,000.