The mum, who works night shifts, woke up from a nap and couldn't find her daughters. Photo / Facebook
The mum, who works night shifts, woke up from a nap and couldn't find her daughters. Photo / Facebook
A 3-year-old girl has died and her baby sister is in critical condition after they were both found inside a parked car in the heat in Arkansas in the US.
Mum Kaylee Petchenik called 911 around 2pm on Monday saying she could not find her daughters, after she woke up from a nap.
Three-year-old Laykn and 15-month-old Olivia were found unconscious inside their mum's car parked outside the house by a police officer dispatched to the scene.
It was too late for Laykn, who was rushed to hospital but pronounced dead.
Baby Olivia was also taken to hospital where she is in stable but critical condition.
"Both are the apparent victims of heat," Arkansas State Police has said.
A neighbour told local media the young mum approached his house asking if he'd seen her daughters, after she woke up from her nap and couldn't find them.
A page has been set up to help with funeral expenses. Photo / GoFundMe
"I was sitting out of my porch around 11 o'clock and my neighbour Kaylee, the mum has came outside and looked concerned and worried and she came up to and asked if I had seen her kids," Matthew Wood said.
He explained Petchenik works night shifts and told him she had locked the door before she'd gone for a nap.
"The mother works night shifts. She was asleep, she had laid down for a nap. She said she had locked her doors and when she woke up the door was open and the kids were gone," he added.
Wood was with the police officer when the girls were found and said he "froze up at the sight".
"I was standing next to him when we looked down and saw them in the car, but I kind of froze up at the sight, I'm not going to lie," he said.
A police officer found the girls after the mum called 911 to raise the alarm. Photo / Facebook
"He opened the door, screamed for EMS and grabbed both of them and rushed them to the hospital.
"The little girl who has passed, Laykyn, she was just limp when he picked her up and lifeless. I was just sick when I saw her and I had to sit down."
A doctor told ABC "a child's body will heat up three to five times faster than an adult's".
An autopsy will be performed and a police investigation is ongoing.
A GoFundMe page was established to cover the funeral expenses for Laykn.
