Miguel Antunes Versari, forgotten for 10 hours in stepmother's car, dies in searing heat

Miguel Antunes Versari's dehydrated body was found in the car 10 hours after he was supposed to have been left at nursery school.

His biological mum's partner, described as his stepmother in local media, was due to drop him there at 7am.

But after dropping off Miguel's nurse mum at work, she forgot and left the lad in the car until she was due to collect him and found him dead in the car, according to local media reports.

Experts say that as temperatures outside climbed to 31C, inside the car, Miguel would have roasted at more than 57C, as hot as a warming oven.

Police say they have opened a suspicious death investigation and are quizzing Miguel's mother's lover to discover if his death on April 25 was an accident or planned.

Local media reports in Videira, in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, say his mother's partner simply forgot about him because he had fallen asleep in the back seat of the car.

She claims to suffer from ADHD, attention deficit disorder, which is being treated with medication and psychotherapy.

A police spokesperson said on April 16: "Yesterday, she said that the child had flu-like symptoms and was medicated with Ibuprofen. So he was not as active as usual and was sleeping in the back seat of the vehicle. After leaving her partner at work, she did not realise that the child was sleeping."

She also told the police that she had been in a relationship with Miguel's mother for four years and there was no strife in the family home. Police are waiting for an autopsy report to say exactly how the boy died and to view CCTV footage from around the family home.

The investigation is ongoing.

Story: NewsX