Boston Day Care Closed After Child Found Dead In Van

Updated at 12:00 PM, September 13th, 2011

The child was found in a van parked at 18 Floyd St. in Dorchester. (Delores Handy/WBUR)

BOSTON — A Boston day care center has been shut down after a 13-month-old boy was found dead in a van used to shuttle children to day care centers.

The child was found at 18 Floyd St. in Dorchester at about 3:45 p.m. on Monday. Boston police say the boy may have been left in the van undetected for hours Monday, as temperatures reached the low 80s, before he was discovered. An autopsy was being conducted.

The van was parked outside a three-family home in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood where Gloria Luna’s Family Day Care operates in the basement.

The child wasn’t enrolled at that day care center; he was supposed to be taken to another center. The owner’s husband — who was driving the van and found the boy — runs a business transporting kids to several day care places.

Police said the day care owner’s husband was later treated at a local hospital for a “stress-related issue.”

Police are reportedly investigating whether the child was supposed to have been dropped off at a nearby day care center.

The city closed down the day care after inspectors found it did not have any fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide detectors, evacuation plan or emergency lights. The owner was licensed but did not have a city certificate to operate a day care out of her home.

City Councilor Charles Yancey represents the district and calls this a tragedy of “immense proportions.”

“It’s a reminder to everybody of just how dangerous it is to leave a child inside of a car or a van,” Yancey said.

The WBUR Newsroom and The Associated Press contributed to this report.